Hidden
by Frost Hobbit
Summary: A young girl named Michayla is on Flight 815 when it crashes and she has as many secrets as anyone else there. She soon begins to realize that the crash has changed her in ways she can't imagine or understand. Will the secrets of her past ever be revealed
1. The Crash

**A/N: I know there are a lot of stories on Fanfiction that are Lost with an OC, but I started this before I read any of them so don't accuse me of stealing. This is Season One of Lost with my OC, Michayla, added in to the plot. I'll continue with the rest of the seasons if people like this one enough. I know this story is not brilliant - it's not my best work. I'm doing it just for fun.**

Michayla's head was pounding. She was lying face down in the sand. _Sand? _She tried to sit up, but her body ached too badly for her to move, so she laid still and let the memories flood back. The last thing she remembered was hitting turbulence on the plane home from Sydney. She could only assume they'd crashed, from the smells of smoke and fuel around her, coupled with the screams and cries of people.

"Hey!" a voice shouted above her head, making it throb. "There's a girl here!"

"Is she alive?" another voice asked.

"I dunno, she's lying pretty still..."

Hands seized Michayla by the shoulders and turned her over. Two men were bent over her. "Are you okay?" shouted the man who had grabbed her over the roaring of the motors.

"I don't know," she coughed. "My head...and I ache really bad."

The man heaved Michayla to her feet. "I'm a doctor," he explained. "I'll take a look at you later, but there's more serious cases for me right now..." He glanced around. "Hey!" he called to a man standing with a little boy. "Can you help this girl get out of the way here? I'm not sure she can walk right now!"

"Uh, sure," the man walked over and put his arm around her shoulders. "Can you walk at all?"

Michayla nodded and stumbled over to the edge of the jungle with the man, his son following behind them.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Michayla tried to nod, but the pain in her head made the world turn black and she lost consciousness.

-----

When Michayla woke up she was lying on the ground next to a fire. It was much quieter now and some of the wreckage of the plane had been cleared off the beach. It was night. She slowly sat up, the pain in her head having subsided somewhat. Looking around, she saw the man who had helped her off the beach with his son. The man smiled. "Hey, you're awake now! Good to see you up." He extended his hand. "I'm Michael."

Michayla took the hand. "Michayla."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Michayla. This here's my boy, Walt." Walt looked distracted, but waved in her direction.

"Have you seen a yellow lab running around?" Walt asked eagerly. "That's my dog, Vincent."

Michayla shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."

"So were you traveling alone, Michayla?" inquired Michael.

---

"Have a good trip, Michayla!" her mother said with a smile, seeing her daughter off at the airport in Los Angeles.

"I'm not sure you should go." said her father, unsmilingly.

"Oh, let her go," her mother urged. "My parents really want to see her."

"I'll be fine, I promise." Michayla hugged her parents. "I'll tell Grandma and Grandpa you say hi."

---

"Yes," Michayla answered. "I was visiting my grandparents in Sydney, and I was on my way home." Distractedly, Michayla ran her fingers through her shoulder-length red hair.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get back." Michael encouraged her. "My boy and I are headed home too, as soon as the rescue boats get here."

Michayla smiled at Michael and nodded. Another young man stepped past her to sit down by the fire. "Excuse me," he said with a British accent.

Michayla scooted back, knowing she'd been lying in the way. "That's all right..."

"Charlie," supplied the man. "Charlie Pace."

Surprised, Michayla looked up. "Your name sounds familiar."

Charlie smiled. "Ever heard of Drive Shaft?"

"Yeah," she said. "A band, right?"

"Only the best bloody band on the planet." Charlie corrected. "I play guitar in Drive Shaft."

"Really? Wow!" Michayla said, impressed. "I'm Michayla, by the way. Michayla Swanson."

"Nice to meet you, Michayla." Charlie was writing on pieces of tape that he'd wrapped around his fingers.

Michayla stood up and stepped past Michael to sit next to Charlie. She looked at the letters he'd etched on the tape.

"Fate?" asked Michayla.

"Yeah, you believe in it?" Charlie looked at her.

Michayla shrugged. "Maybe."

"Had to be fate that helped us survive that crash, right? Has to be a reason."

----

"Michayla!" Grandma rushed over to Michayla at the airport in Sydney. She kissed her on the cheek.

"Hi, Grandma!" squealed Michayla.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in years!" she gushed. "It had to be fate that led us to find you..."

----

The doctor, Jack, walked over to the fire where Michayla sat. He sat down next to her. "Feeling better?"

"All except my head, but that only hurts a little." Michayla assured him.

He nodded. "Okay. If it gets worse, or doesn't stop hurting, be sure you tell me."

"I will."

As Jack stood up, a loud rumbling noise came from the forest. Everyone stood up and walked over to the edge of the jungle.

"That was weird, right?" Charlie asked.

"Did anyone see that?" cried a young pregnant woman with an Australian accent. No one answered her.

"Was that Vincent?" asked Walt hopefully.

"It wasn't Vincent." answered Michael.

"Look, we don't know what is was," said Jack calmly. "But it was in the forest, not on the beach. I suggest we all get some rest and get ready to help out tomorrow."

Michayla walked back to the fire and sat down next to it again.

"Hey," the Australian woman walked over to her, carrying a backpack. "Is your name Michayla Swanson?"

Michayla looked up. "Yeah, it is."

"This is your bag, then," she said, dropping the bag next to Michayla with a sweet smile. "I'm Claire. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too. And thanks!" Michayla called after Claire as she walked off. Gratefully Michayla dug into her bag and pulled out her purple diary. Clicking the pen that she kept in the bag, she opened the diary to write.

Dear Diary,

Oh my God. You won't believe this at all. The plane CRASHED. We're all on some random island in the middle of nowhere. It's night time now, I was unconscious for a long time. Luckily I think I'm okay, and so are a lot of other people

Unbelievable thing number two, a lot of us are completely uninjured.

Unbelievable thing number three, guess who just happened to be on the plane? The guitarist for Drive Shaft, the band. His name is Charlie Pace, seems really nice.

And the final unbelievable thing, we just heard all these weird noises from the jungle. It was really scary, but the noises are gone now, luckily.

Well, I'm completely exhausted so I'd better try and get some sleep.

-Michayla

-----

"Hey, Michayla, sun's up." Michayla woke to find Charlie shaking her shoulder. "I think I'm going to go help clear off some wreckage. Bags and stuff."

"I'll come help out," Michayla said, sitting up.

"You sure you're okay? You were out a long time yesterday."

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little achy but that's it," Michayla assured Charlie.

Soon she found herself clearing out bags with Charlie and Claire. Not talking much, she listened as the other two spoke.

"So...was your husband on the plane with you?" Charlie asked Claire.

"Oh...no, I'm actually not married." Claire explained with a small smile.

"Oh. Well, who needs men?"

Michayla stifled a laugh. It sounded something like one of her friends would jokingly say.

---

"Michayla, are you okay?" Her best friend's voice sounded concerned through the phone line.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Listen, girl, if he doesn't like you it's his loss. After all, guys are dumb. Anyway, you're only thirteen. You've got plenty of time."

"Thanks, Cassie. Best friend forever, right?"

"Heck yeah. Friends are forever, boys are whatever."

---

Michayla smiled at the memory.

"What's funny?" asked Charlie, smiling at her.

"Just what you said. It reminded me of my friend Cassie," Michayla explained. "'Who needs men' is just like something she would say."

"You miss your friend?" Claire asked, looking through a suitcase.

"Yeah..a lot...we've known each other forever. Like, since preschool."

"That's great that you have such a good friend." Claire smiled. "I bet you can't wait to get home and see her."

Michayla hesitated. "Yeah," she finally said.

Claire looked at her, but didn't inquire on the pause. She pulled another suitcase out of the cargo area. "Hey, Michayla, this one's got your name on it!" she exclaimed.

"Really? Great!" Michayla took the suitcase and unzipped it. She rummaged among the clothes until she found a flute case buried at the bottom.

"You play the flute?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"Yup!" Michayla opened the case. "Six or seven years now."

"You in a band?"

She laughed. "Just my school concert band. And the marching band too."

---

"Michayla!" Cassie threw herself at Michayla on their first day of band camp, when Michayla was fourteen.

"Hey, Cass!" laughed Michayla.

"Ready for band?" The African American girl held her gold trumpet in her hand, smiling and happy.

"Hecks yeah!" Michayla answered.

"Hey, Michayla."

Michayla turned to see a tall, dark haired boy with a drum harness on. "Hey, Cam!" She hugged her boyfriend. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a digital camera. "Photo op!" she announced." The three freshmen leaned in as Michayla snapped the picture.

---

The photo was in a plastic bag in the suitcase. Michayla pulled it out and gazed at it.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Claire asked with a smile.

Michayla looked at the picture with fond memories flooding in. "Yeah, that's Cam. I'm in the middle there, and the girl on my other side is my best friend Cassie. That was our freshman year in marching band."

Claire peered at the picture. "Cute guy," she said approvingly. Michayla laughed at Charlie's revolted expression.

"How old's that guy?" Charlie asked grumpily.

"In this picture he's fifteen. Now he'd be almost seventeen."

"How old are you?" Charlie persisted.

"Me?" Michayla asked. "Sixteen in ... ten days now?"

"Remind me when it's your birthday," Claire told her. "If...we're not home by then."

"We will be. They'll come," Charlie said confidently. "We'll be home for your birthday, and you'll have a great sixteenth birthday party with all your friends."

Michayla sighed. "I hope you're right." Distractedly she pulled out her flute and assembled it. Running her fingers along the slender silver instrument she said in surprise, "It's barely even scratched."

"Will you play something?" Charlie asked eagerly.

Taken aback, she said, "I don't have any sheet music with me."

"So? Come on, Michayla." pleaded Claire.

Sighing, Michayla raised the flute to her lips, thinking of something to play. Blowing across the mouthpiece, she began playing the theme for the Shire from the Lord of the Rings movies.

"That's beautiful," Claire said softly.

"That's Lord of the Rings!" Charlie added.

"You like Lord of the Rings?" Michayla asked, impressed.

"_Like _is not the word for it, young lady. More like, _worship._"

"No way! Me too!"

"Yeah. I never told anyone back home. Huge rock star like me...couldn't be seen liking something as geeky as Lord of the Rings." Charlie smiled, sitting down in the sand.

"...You do realize you just called her a geek, Charlie?" Claire informed him with a laugh.

"No, it's okay." Michayla giggled. "I know I'm a geek and proud of it."

Charlie looked out at the ocean. "Nice to know I'm not the only musician on this bloody island."

"Same here," agreed Michayla.

----

That afternoon Michayla found herself walking along the beach on her own. Charlie had gone off with Jack and Kate to look for the cockpit and they weren't back yet. She was missing a few items from her backpack and she wondered if they had washed up somewhere else.

"Thought the Doc said no one was supposed to wander off on their own." Michayla turned to the sound of the voice. A tall man with long dirty-blond hair stood on the beach behind her.

"I haven't left the beach," she pointed out.

The man chuckled. "I won't rat you out, Red. Name's Sawyer." Instead of holding out his hand as anyone else would have done, he stooped to pick up a Swiss army knife lying in the sand. After examining it, he put it in his pocket.

"Is that yours?" Michayla asked.

"Nope," said Sawyer with a cocky grin. "Whoever it belonged to won't be needing it anymore."

"That's horrible!" Michayla cried, shocked.

"What's horrible, Gingersnap? Picking up some stuff that could be useful later on?" He gave her that grin again. "Useful to me, anyway."

"You haven't by chance found a small photo album on the beach anywhere?" Michayla wanted to know.

He tilted his head. "Maybe I have. What's it to you?"

"It's mine," she said quietly. "I need it back."

Rolling his eyes, he turned. "Follow me." Running to keep up with Sawyer's long stride, she chased him to a small tent full of bags. Rummaging among them, he extracted the album. "This what you're looking for?"

"Yes." Michayla held out her hand for it.

Sawyer smirked at her. "My stuff don't come cheap."

"It's not yours, it's mine." Michayla felt her temper rising.

"Correction, Ginger: I FOUND it, you LOST it. Ever heard of finders keepers, losers weepers?"

Michayla sighed. "How much do you want for it?"

"Money's no good here." He continued smiling.

She turned away. "You're disgusting!"

"Red!" Michayla looked back. Sawyer tossed the album to her. "You get this one free. Next time I got somethin' you want, it'll cost you. Got it?"

Michayla nodded, glaring at him. "Got it." Turning, she stormed away from Sawyer.

When she was a safe distance away, she sat down in the sand and flipped through the album. The pages were a little damp from the crash, but mostly it was undamaged. It wasn't a photo album so much as a scrapbook - mementos of her freshman year, last year. Her sophomore year had started a few months ago, back in September, but her parents had allowed her to take a couple weeks off school to visit her grandparents. Wryly she realized she would be more than two weeks behind now. Looking through the scrapbook, her eyes fell on a note from Cassie.

Hey Girl!

I can't believe how much fun homecoming was. You and Cam are soo cute it sickens me. JUST KIDDING! Haha. I can't wait to see the pictures when you get them developed. Well I will see you this weekend. We're hanging out, right?? We'd better. Call me!

Sisterly love,

Cassie

Cass and 'Chayla 4-ever

Michayla smiled as she turned the pages of the scrapbook. Standing, she walked over to where Claire was sitting, near a girl who was apparently trying to get a tan. "Hi, Claire."

"Hey, Michayla!" Claire said with a smile. "You found what you were looking for?"

"In a manner of speaking." She tilted her head back towards Sawyer. "Sawyer found it first and I had to get it back from him."

"Oh, bummer." Claire said sympathetically.

Michayla shrugged. "No biggie. I've got it now and that's all that matters." She reached into her backpack and pulled out the photo from band camp. Carefully she tucked it into the scrapbook.

"You like scrapbooking?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, kind of. I made this over the summer, put all my stuff from freshman year in it." Michayla gazed at the book. "Good year..."

"Well, look how this year's starting off for you!" joked Claire. "You're on a beautiful tropical island, no parents around, no teachers, no homework..."

Michayla laughed. "Yeah, just the minor drawback of those weird noises in the jungle. And the fact that no one's rescued us yet and there's a guy with shrapnel in his stomach in the tent over there." Suddenly the sky opened up and it started to rain. "And that!" she shouted over the noise as she helped Claire to her feet and into the shelter of the fuselage.

"Wow," Claire said, shaking water out of her hair. "That was...abrupt."

"Yeah," Michayla peered out at the rain. "Weird."

"Listen, Shannon, don't have a heart attack because you got a little wet!" A young man was yelling at the girl who had been tanning.

"Boone, look at my hair!" yelled Shannon.

"You've done nothing but lie in the sand all day, so excuse me if I'm not sorry that your hair's a little messy," retorted Boone.

Shannon glared at him, then stalked away to sit closer to Claire and Michayla. "Brothers!" she spat venomously. "When you need advice, they're never there, and when you don't, they all-over criticize you!"

Claire and Michayla looked at each other, unsure what to say. "Well, I'm sure he's bound to be a bit on edge," Claire said carefully. "We've been here for almost a day now. I think maybe we should all get some rest."

**A/N Well, that was part one of the pilot episode. I'll have the next part up as soon as I can. Reviews are really appreciared, so please review! Oh - Lord of the Rings fans, I can't resist throwing some LotR references in here because of Charlie, so look for those! **


	2. The Transceiver

**A/N Here's Pilot Part Two. I haven't had anyone review chapter one yet (shame shame), but I hope people will review this chapter. I don't think it's as good as the first, but whatever.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.**

Everyone had heard about what had happened at the cockpit, when the pilot was killed. The radio wasn't working, but a man named Sayid was good with electronics and said it would work better at higher ground. Michayla volunteered to go along with the group who was heading up the hill, along with Charlie, Kate, Sawyer, Shannon, Sayid, and Boone.

There was some tension in the air as the small group walked up the hill. Shannon and Boone had been arguing again, and Sawyer and Sayid had gotten into a fistfight moments before the group had left.

"We need to get as high as possible!" Sayid called back to them as he and Kate led the way. It was tough making their way along the rough terrain.

The trek became easier after they got to a foresty part of the island. "Wait a minute," Kate said, stopping. "Listen. Something's coming!"

Something was crashing through the undergrowth straight towards them. "Run!" yelled Charlie, seizing Michayla's arm and pulling her through the forest. The entire group turned and ran.

"Sawyer!" someone cried. Looking around, Michayla realized he wasn't with them.

"I'll get him!" Michayla said, turning back.

"No - Michayla - " Charlie tried to stop her but she darted past him and ran back to Sawyer. Somehow, Sawyer had a gun with him and was pointing it in the direction the sounds were coming from. Not bothering to wonder where it came from, she tried to get him to run.

"Sawyer, come on!" She grabbed the arm that held the gun and tried to pull him away. Sawyer angrily threw her off. Michayla thudded to the ground as Sawyer fired three shots into the forest. Something large and white skidded to a halt in front of them and fell over.

Sawyer whirled on Michayla. "You think you're some great little heroine, doncha, princess? Well, lemme tell you something, Kim Possible, your little stunt there could've gotten us all killed!"

"Well, maybe you should have just run with the rest of us when that thing was coming!" Michayla yelled back, getting to her feet.

"That thing would've caught up with us sooner or later, and then we'd be dead! You should be thanking me for saving your sorry life!" Sawyer was in her face now, yelling with his nose inches from hers.

"Sawyer!" Kate said firmly. "There's no need for that. What attacked us?"

Sawyer and Michayla turned to see a bear lying on the ground behind them.

"That's - that's a pretty big bear." Shannon said shakily. Boone stood beside her protectively.

"That's not just a bear," Charlie corrected, looking shocked. "That's a polar bear."

"Then...what is it doing here?" Kate asked the question that was on everyone's mind. No one answered.

Sayid stood in front of Sawyer. "Where did you get that gun?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

"Look, there was a marshal on the plane, and I found it! Thought maybe it'd be useful!"

"And you were the marshal's prisoner!" Sayid reached out as if to shove Sawyer.

"That's enough!" Kate stepped in between them. "We can't worry about this now. We need to get to higher ground, but I think someone else should take the gun."

"Don't you trust me, Freckles?" Sawyer shot back.

"Someone just take it from him!" Shannon said, sounding annoyed.

"Why don't you take it?" Sayid said to Kate.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "Kate should take the gun!"

"That's a good idea. Kate, you should take it." Michayla agreed with everyone.

Sawyer grudgingly handed Kate the gun. She turned it over in her hands. "How do I take this apart, Sayid?"

As Sayid showed her how to dismantle it, Charlie turned to Michayla. "So what do you think?" he asked in a low voice.

"About what?" Michayla asked.

Charlie tilted his head. "Sawyer. Do you believe him about where he got the gun...about not being the prisoner on the plane?"

"I don't know," Michayla admitted. "I think maybe we have to be careful on this island. You saw what happened to the pilot. I dunno if we can trust anyone yet."

Kate took the lead again. "Come on, we have to hurry if we want to be back before sunset!"

They soon arrived in a clearing high above the beach. Sayid pulled out the radio and turned it on. Everyone listened closely. At first all they could hear was static, but suddenly they could faintly hear a voice.

"That's French!" cried Charlie excitedly. "The French are coming. I've never been so happy to hear French!" Michayla grinned widely as Charlie gave her a one-armed hug and continued looking ecstatic.

"Does anyone speak French?" Sayid asked.

"Shannon does," Boone said.

"What - I do not - !" Shannon seemed taken aback.

"Yes you do, I've heard you speak French!" Boone argued.

Sayid shoved the radio into Shannon's hand. "Quickly, translate!"

Shannon held the radio up to her ear. "I'm alone now...on the island alone... please, someone come..." Shannon seemed unsure of herself as she struggled to interpret the French words. "The others are dead. It killed them...it killed them all..." Shannon stopped listening. "That's it."

Charlie looked horror-struck. "Guys...where are we?"

**A/N I know some stuff was a bit different than the show, but for the most part I'm trying to follow the plot as closely as possible and keep everyone in-character. Also, I know there weren't any flashbacks in this chapter, but that's because I'm only doing them in every other chapter...keeps the suspense drawn out. :-) Please review!**


	3. The Dream

**A/N Do you all hate this story or what? Just kidding, but come on! I have 55 hits on this story and not a single review! Here's chapter three. It takes place during Tabula Rasa. Enjoy!**

The radio group, as Michayla called the seven of them in her head, were not able to get down the mountain before the sun had set. They had built a small campfire and Sayid had somehow figured out (Michayla couldn't understand how) that the message the French woman had sent had been playing on a loop for years.

"So," Sawyer leaned back, sitting on a log by the fire. "What about that signal Abdul picked up on his little radio? How long was it, Freckles?"

Kate stared at the fire. "Sixteen years."

"That's right," Sawyer said. "And she wasn't rescued, was she?" Sawyer raised his eyebrows. "Seems to me we could be here awhile."

"We do not know that she was never rescued," Sayid contradicted him.

"If she was rescued, then why's her little message still playing?" Sawyer's question hung in the air. "It said the others were dead, that it killed them. What's it? What killed them?"

"Look, my French isn't that great!" Shannon burst out. "I could have translated it wrong!"

"Do you think you did?" Boone asked her.

"No, I don't, but you do, don't you?" Shannon seemed determined to pick a fight with her brother any chance she got. "You never believe in me, never, you never think I can do anything - "

"Shannon, who was it that pointed out that you speak French?" Boone asked hotly. "Oh yeah - that was me!"

"Guys!" Kate cut in. "We're getting nowhere by fighting amongst ourselves."

"We cannot tell anyone else about this message," Sayid said.

"What?" cried Michayla. "What do you mean? Shouldn't they know?"

"No, I don't think they need to know," Sayid answered. "If we tell them, we take away their hope...and that is a very dangerous thing to lose."

"So we lie," Kate said.

Sayid looked at her. "Yes."

Michayla laid down by the fire, Charlie next to her. "Don't listen to them," he whispered to her. "We'll get rescued. They can't leave us here forever."

----

That night, Michayla had a dream.

She was walking along the beach. It was dark and foggy out when suddenly two figures appeared ahead of her. She relaxed as they emerged out of the fog. It was only Cassie and Cam. "You guys scared me," she told them. "What are you doing here? You weren't on the plane..."

Michayla stopped talking as she caught a glimpse of Cassie's eyes. They looked dark and afraid. "Where are you, Michayla? I can't find you..." Her voice sounded echo-y and far away.

"Cass..." Michayla went over to her. "I'm right here, girl, can't you see me?"

Cassie's lip quivered and she shook her head. "No!" she said in that faraway voice. "I can't find you, 'Chayla, don't leave me!" Two tears spilled out of Cassie's eyes and she slid back into the fog.

"Cass!" Michayla yelled, grabbing for her friend's hand, but her fingers slipped away.

"Michayla!" Cassie's voice faded into nothing.

Frightened, Michayla turned to Cam. "Cam, can you see me?"

He too shook his head. "No, I can't." His voice was the same echo-y tone as Cassie's. "I want to see you, but I can't! It's all dark, Michayla, I can't find you. I can't see anything." Cam was disappearing back into the fog the way Cassie had.

"Cam!" she screamed. "Don't go!"

"I love you!" His voice echoed until she could hear nothing. She screamed as a hand grabbed her shoulder. Whirling around, she saw only her father in the swirling fog.

"Don't scream, sweetheart," he whispered. "There's nothing to be afraid of..." And Michayla's father turned into Charlie, whose eyes looked cloudy and unfocused.

"Charlie?"

"I can't stop," Charlie said. Stumbling backwards, he fell into the ocean as a wave crashed over. When the wave was gone, so was Charlie.

"No!" yelled Michayla.

"Hey, Gingersnap!" Turning again, Michayla saw Sawyer standing a short distance away. He held the gun again, and it was pointed at her. Sawyer pulled the trigger. There was a bang, and Michayla screamed, but nothing hit her. Instead, blood was blossoming over Sawyer's shoulder, and he cried out in pain before vanishing. Michayla screamed again as two more people walked out of the fog. Shannon and Boone were bloody and pale. They reached for Michayla, grabbing at her, asking for help. Michayla was screaming uncontrollably, and as Shannon and Boone vanished, a scream that wasn't hers pierced the air. Michayla instinctively knew it was Claire screaming for help. Michayla ran in the direction of Claire's scream, which led her into the jungle.

She found herself in a clearing. All was quiet except for the whispers that seemed to surround her now. Turning her head this way and that, she saw no one, but the whispers were getting closer.

Michayla woke up screaming. Sitting up, she turned around, looking at everyone waking up from her yells.

"What's going on?"

"Is everyone okay?"

"What happened?"

"What's wrong with you, Gingersnap?" Sawyer was rubbing his eyes. "Can't anyone get any sleep around here?"

At the sight of Sawyer, Michayla screamed again and scooted away. Tears were running down her face.

"Michayla! Are you all right?" Charlie was looking at her, eyes focused and unclouded.

It didn't help her terror. She yelled, sobbing harder than every once she saw Shannon and Boone staring at her in concern.

Kate rushed over to her grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to herself and Sayid, neither of whom were in Michayla's nightmare. "Shh..." Kate held her in her arms, rubbing her back. "It was only a dream, Michayla, only a dream..." Michayla breathed in huge gasps, but fought her panic back, knowing it wasn't right.

"Is she all right?" Sayid's comforting voice asked.

Kate looked over the top of Michayla's head. "She's been through a plane crash and was attacked by a bear today. It's enough to make anyone have nightmares."

"It wasn't a dream!" Michayla was truly convinced it had happened. "Charlie...Shannon, Boone, Sawyer...they were all there...and they all _scared me!"_

"No one here would hurt you, Michayla," Sayid comforted her. "I promise."

"How can you promise that?" she whispered. "How do you know?"

"You do not believe me? Then they can tell you." He turned to the others. "All of you, tell her that you wouldn't hurt her."

"I swear to you, Michayla, that I would _never _let anything happen to you," Charlie said seriously.

"Same here," Boone said. "It was only a dream, I wouldn't hurt anyone."

Shannon shook her head. "It's okay, honey. I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Everyone looked at Sawyer. He crossed his arms. "We all gotta reassure her after she has some stupid nightmare?"

"Sawyer!" Kate admonished.

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "All right. I'd never hurt you, Ginger. Happy now?"

The terror of her dream was fading, and she nodded. She wasn't truly convinced she could trust Sawyer, but she knew he wouldn't shoot her like he had in the nightmare. She laid back down. "You can all go back to sleep. I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay, Michayla," Kate reassured her. "We understand. Everyone has nightmares sometimes. It's nothing you could have prevented."

"I shouldn't have panicked," Michayla said, her eyes growing heavy. "I never freak out like that..." Her eyes closed.

"It's all right, Michayla. It's okay. We're here and nothing's going to hurt you." Charlie's voice was the last thing she heard before falling to sleep.

----

The radio group woke first thing in the morning, Sawyer yawning widely as they started back to the beach. He stumbled on a stone and knocked into Michayla.

"Excuse you," Michayla said, frowning.

"Well, princess, thanks to you, I'm a little tired, so excuse me if I'm not so alert!" he snapped back.

Michayla opened her mouth, hurt, but closed it as Charlie came up and grabbed her upper arm. "She had a bloody nightmare!" Charlie said incredulously. "Cut her some slack, would you?"

Sawyer chose to ignore Charlie's comment and headed farther up to walk closer to Kate and Sayid.

"No sympathy at all, that git," Charlie remarked, walking next to Michayla. "Er...what did happen in your dream, anyway?"

Michayla shook her head, feeling fear flooding back. "I don't want to talk about it!" she said quickly, fighting it back. "Not yet...it's too close."

"Okay." Charlie held up his hands, noticing her panic. "I won't make you talk about it. I hope you don't have another dream like that."

"So do I," Michayla said. "Believe me, so do I."

---

When they reached the beach, everyone else gathered around the radio group. Sayid gave them a modified version of what happened on the mountain. He told them that the transceiver had failed to pick up a signal at all, but asked for their help in fixing it. Three groups were organized: one for food, one for water, and one for electronics.

After the short meeting Michayla walked along the beach. Claire was sitting in an airplane seat, scribbling away in her journal. Michayla sat down. "Hey, Claire."

"Hey!" Claire closed her journal and smiled. "No luck with the transceiver, huh?"

"No," Michayla answered. "Sayid's trying to fix it up so it works better. How are you?"

Claire beamed. "I'm great! I hadn't felt the baby move since we crashed here, and then yesterday I felt him kicking! I was really worried for awhile, but I guess he's okay!"

"That's great news, Claire! So the baby's a boy?"

"Well, actually I don't know," she admitted. "But I guess I think he's a he." She smiled. "Anything eventful happen up on the mountain?"

Michayla filled her in on the story of the polar bear. Claire's mouth hung open when she finished. "That's impossible!" Claire insisted. "How on earth would a polar bear get here?"

"I don't know." Michayla shrugged. "It's a mystery to me." Michayla considered telling Claire about the dream she'd had, but discarded the idea - she didn't want to scare her. After all, it had been Claire's scream she'd heard in the dream. Suddenly Michayla and Claire heard a loud groan of pain. Michayla sat up. "What was that?"

Claire looked troubled. "It's that man...you know, the one who had the shrapnel in his stomach? Jack's trying to save him, but I don't think he'll make it. He's been moaning like that off and on for the past day."

"That's awful," murmured Michayla. She stood up. "Do you mind if I go find Charlie or do you want some company?"

"No, it's fine," Claire replied cheerfully, giving her a bright smile. "I've got my journal to write in and there are other people around."

"Okay, see you later!" Michayla called over her shoulder as she walked off.

She found Charlie with Hurley, standing in the ocean with a spear made of a stick with a sharp bit of metal on the end. "What the heck are you two doing?" she asked, rolling up her jeans and wading out.

"Trying to catch a fish," Hurley said, stabbing the spear into the water. "Dude. That's a lot harder than it looks!"

"Um...you know that Korean guy can catch fish?" Michayla asked.

"Yeah," Charlie told her. "But Shannon asked me to catch a fish for her, so I thought I'd..."

Michayla's amusement turned to an unexplainable emotion of anger and jealousy. "She's using you," she told Charlie flatly.

"Dunno what you're talking about, mate." Charlie seemed unconcerned. "Hey Hurley, mind if I have a go?"

Hurley handed over the spear. "Knock yourself out, dude."

Charlie poised himself over the water. Michayla watched skeptically, eyebrows raised. Suddenly Charlie jabbed the spear at a fish, missed, and fell in the water. Michayla burst out laughing as Hurley pulled him out of the water.

"Dude, you okay?"

"Yeah," spluttered Charlie, shaking water out of his hair. "Did you see how close that was, though? It was like, right there, and I stabbed, and it only just got away!"

"The water makes the fish look higher up than they really are," Michayla reminded him. "You've got to aim lower than what looks right to you."

"Really?" Charlie looked at her. "Thanks. Both of you, thanks for helping out."

"No trouble. You want to make a fool out of yourself, that's your business."

"Dude, glad to help," Hurley said. "Gets me away from that guy Jack's trying to save in the tent. And that stupid -" Hurley splashed the water, "redneck -" Hurley splashed again. "jerk!"

Michayla laughed, knowing he was talking about Sawyer.

After a few more tries, Charlie finally caught his fish. Proudly he waded out of the ocean, fish in hand, to find Shannon. Michayla, having nothing better to do, followed him.

Shannon was overjoyed to see the fish. "See, Boone!" she said to her brother. "I told you I could fend for myself!"

Charlie looked confused.

"What, you think using this poor guy to catch a fish is fending for yourself?" Boone turned to Charlie. "I'm so sorry about this."

"No, no, it's okay. No trouble at all." Charlie looked more confused by the minute.

"You're just jealous, Boone," Shannon told him, "because I got this fish and proved I can fend for myself!" Shannon stormed off without thanking Charlie.

Charlie stood blinking. "What just happened?"

"Sorry, Charlie." Michayla walked up beside him. "I told you she was using you."

"Yeah," Charlie replied, still looking a little astonished as to what had taken place. "I guess you were right. That was weird, that was."

Michayla shrugged. "I think Shannon has some family issues she's trying to deal with."

"Yeah." Charlie dropped his fish spear onto the ground and kicked it. "I guess we all deal with that kind of stuff."

---

"Mom, you don't have to leave!" Michayla's mother, Trish, grabbed onto her mother's arm.

"It's nothing to do with you, Patricia," said Grandma. "Nor has it anything to do with little Michayla. Your father and I need some time to get used to the fact that you've married someone like Jackson."

Michayla's mom bent over and scooped up Michayla, two years old at the time. "Mother!" She bounced Michayla on her hip and the small redhaired girl sucked on her thumb, green eyes widely observing the scene. "Jackson said he's going to get help!"

Grandma looked remorseful. "But he won't, dear," she said knowingly. "People like him just refuse to admit they have a problem."

"Jackson knows he has a problem!" Trish screamed at Grandma. "You're being incredibly narrow-minded. Mother, just give him a chance!"

Michayla, upset by her mother's raised voice, began to cry. Grandma clicked her tongue.

"Trish, you've gone and upset your daughter." She reached out her arms as if to take Michayla.

Trish stepped back. "Get out, mother!" she yelled. "I don't want my daughter growing up with your narrow views."

Grandma's eyes narrowed. "Fine," she said coolly. "If you want to reject our help, that is your decision, as is staying with Jackson. But I say this for Michayla's own good: it would be better for you and Jackson to get a divorce."

Trish shook her head. "I can't do that, Mom. He loves Michayla and I too much."

Grandma too shook her head. "If he really loved you," she went on, "he would understand that you need some time." She turned and walked out the front door.

---

Michayla walked along the beach that evening, the beach still strewn with wreckage. Sawyer was sitting on a piece of the plane, smoking a cigarette and reading a sheet of paper.

"What's that?" Michayla asked loudly, coming up behind him. "You steal that too?"

Sawyer turned angrily to face her, folding the paper and shoving it in his pocket. "It's none of your business, Gingersnap." He stood up, looking down at her. "I didn't steal it. It's mine."

Michayla looked up at him coolly. "Smoking's bad for you."

Sawyer snorted and looked up as if trying to control himself. "Why don't you get lost, Gingersnap?" He turned and stormed away toward where Kate sat, trying to start a fire. He tossed the cigarette to the ground.

Charlie came up to Michayla. "What's our favorite person up to now?" he asked.

Michayla shrugged. "He's just annoyed at me, as usual." More moans came from the tent with the injured man in it. A moment later Kate went into the tent.

"Wonder what she's doing?" Charlie said, furrowing his brow.

"No idea." Michayla turned and walked over to the fire, sitting down next to it. Charlie sat next to her. Suddenly they heard a loud gunshot. Startled, Michayla turned quickly, Charlie following her gaze.

Sawyer was walked out of the tent. Michayla couldn't read his expression from where she sat, but looked at Charlie, whose eyes were wide. Charlie put his hand on her back and she turned back around, breathing heavily.

"Sawyer just..." Michayla swallowed, trying to get the words out. "_Killed _that man!"

Charlie looked at her seriously. "I knew we shouldn't trust him."

**A/N Well, I hope you liked it. It really gets good in the next chapter; you should find out quite a bit more about Michayla's past. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. That's what the little bluish purple review button is for. **


	4. The Fuselage

**A/N Here's Chapter Four, which takes place during Walkabout. I'm trying to get one chapter done a week, so look for updates between Monday and Wednesday every week. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**UPDATE: This is the new, slightly improved version of Chapter Four. I took out part of it and replaced it with something a little different. Thanks to LostBluePhantom for letting me know how "cheesy" it was to have Michayla have dreams fortelling the future. Something similar will still be going on with Michayla, but I think it's a little more original. You won't really see much more of it until the chapter that takes place in "Whatever the Case May Be," so you'll have to be patient. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.**

A young redhaired girl ran in the door, dropping her backpack after her first day of kindergarten. "Hi, Daddy!" she called, skipping into the living room.

Her father Jackson was lying on the couch in a tee shirt and shorts. He rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "Hi, sweetheart," he answered, managing a smile at his daughter.

Michayla frowned. "Are you sick, Daddy?"

"Well...I don't feel so great today, that's for sure."

Michayla decided to play nurse. "You should get some rest, Daddy. I'll make dinner tonight and you can go to bed early."

Jackson laughed and got to his feet. "I think Mommy will be home to make dinner, so you don't have to worry about it." He stumbled into the kitchen and made Michayla a glass of Kool-Aid. "You can watch TV if you want, or call Cassie and see if she wants her mom to take you two to the park. I'm going to go upstairs and take a nap."

Michayla nodded. "Okay."

When Trish got home that night, Jackson was still sleeping. Michayla met her at the door. "Daddy doesn't feel good today," she whispered.

Trish led Michayla into the living room. "Michayla, I need to tell you something important, all right?" Trish sat Michayla down on the couch and started to explain about something called heroin, and how it was very bad for Daddy, but Daddy couldn't stop using it because otherwise he would get sick. "That's why he's sick today," Trish explained. "Daddy didn't have any to use today."

Michayla looked at her mother with wide green eyes. "Why does he use it if it's so bad?"

"Honey, he's addicted. He can't stop. Daddy tries and tries, but it's so hard for him." Trish smiled softly. "One day, maybe things will get better."

"I hope so, Mommy. I don't want Daddy to be a 'ditcted."

----

It was late at night when Michayla suddenly woke up. There were strange noises coming from the fuselage. Sawyer, Jack, and several other people were standing next to it, peering inside. Sawyer held up a large flashlight and shined it inside as Michayla walked over to them.

"What is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"That's what we're trying to find out, princess," Sawyer hissed, motioning for her to be quiet. The light caught a large brown shape and two shiny black eyes. It grunted.

"RUN!" yelled Jack. Everyone scattered. Michayla tripped when the leg of her jeans snagged on a sharp piece of metal from the plane's wreckage.

Sawyer had pulled Kate out of the way, and looked between Kate and Michayla. "Oh, for Christ's sake!" He dashed back, grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her leg free, dragging her by the hand away from the - _whatever _it was.

"Thanks," panted Michayla.

"Don't mention it." Sawyer was still wearing his characteristic scowl. "Just - don't go doin' somethin' stupid like that again."

The thing had bowled Charlie over and was running off into the jungle. Charlie had a cut in his side, but it didn't seem too bad.

"What was that?" someone asked.

"Boar," answered a man who Michayla was pretty sure was called Locke. "Piglets, I'd guess."

"Those were the _babies?" _Michayla asked incredulously.

"Yes," Locke answered. "The parents would be much bigger."

----

"We can't leave those bodies in the fuselage." Jack was dabbing antiseptic on the cut on Charlie's side.

"So should we bury them?" Kate asked.

"Anyone we bury is not going to stay buried!" Jack pointed out. "We have to burn the fuselage."

"They deserve better!" Sayid snapped.

"If we bury them, they won't stay buried for a day. They'll be dug up - and eaten. I think they deserve better than that." Jack returned to Charlie's wound. "We don't have time to sort everything out."

"Really? Last I checked, we were positively _made _of time," Charlie commented, wincing.

Michayla laughed, then stopped when she realized no one else was.

Jack stood up. "Look, we'll figure out exactly what to do in the morning. Everyone go and get some more sleep. We need it."

Michayla headed back to her spot by the fire and fell back to sleep as soon as she laid down.

She dreamed she was back on the dark foggy beach. Everything that happened the last time she had the dream repeated itself, again ending with Michayla finding herself in the jungle, surrounded by whispers.

Michayla woke with a start, this time able to control her terror and the scream that longed to explode from her mouth. The sun was rising over the horizon, but most everyone was still asleep. Michayla decided to get up, since she would have to soon anyway.

She walked along the beach, not the dark one she'd dreamed about, but the nice sunny one where the plane had crashed. She sipped sparingly from a bottle of water.

Michayla did not like the dark beach she dreamed about, and she did not like the things that happened there. The dream she'd had just now was just as terrifying as the one she'd had on the mountain. She couldn't make sense out of any of it. Cassie and Cam disappearing into the fog...her father turning into Charlie, who was swallowed by the wave...Sawyer with the gun...Shannon and Boone...Claire's scream...and the voices that surrounded her in the end.

Michayla sighed. Why was she so worked up about it? A dream was just that, a dream! It was like Kate had said...being through a plane crash was enough to give anyone nightmares. With that reassuring thought, and the sun fully up, Michayla turned to walk back to the camp.

When she reached the main camp area, a fight had broken out between Sawyer and Hurley. A fight over peanuts.

"What happened to the rest of the food?" Jack asked reasonably.

"It's gone, dude," Hurley replied. "We ate it all."

"The food's gone?"

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Murmurs broke out among the group of survivors.

"Now, don't panic!" Sayid tried to restore calm. "There are many things on this island we can use for sustenance- "

"And how are we going to find that?" Sawyer challenged, sitting in a seat torn from the airplane.

A knife whistled through the air and embedded itself in the airplane seat next to Sawyer's head. Locke stood a short distance away. "We hunt."

Jack tugged the knife from the seat and handed it to him. "You either had very good aim, or very bad aim, Mr. - ?"

"Locke," Michael broke in. "His name's Locke." Michael's face wore a strangely resentful expression as he looked at Locke.

Locke explained how he could track down the boar. "I reckon it'll take about three of us to trap it so we can slit its throat."

Sawyer raised his eyebrows at Jack. "And you gave him his knife back?"

"Well, if you've got a better idea..." Jack answered.

"Better than three of you going out into the magic forest to track down a boar with nothin' but a little bitty huntin' knife? Hell no! Best idea I ever heard."

Michayla was unsure if Sawyer was being sarcastic or not.

"All right," Locke said in a businesslike manner. "I'll take a couple people into the jungle to get a boar. Anyone like to volunteer?"

"I will," Kate volunteered instantly.

"So will I," Michael said, stepping forward.

The group began to disperse and Michayla ran after Locke, Michael and Kate. "Can I come, too?"

Kate looked at her. "We only need three people, Michayla."

"But wouldn't four be even better?" she persisted.

"Hey, Michayla, why don't you help Sun keep an eye on Walt?" suggested Michael. "I think maybe it would be good to have someone watch him who actually speaks English."

"Why don't we let her come?" Locke asked, eyebrows raised.

"Three's all we need," Michael answered firmly. "We don't know what's out there, for one thing. Walt needs someone to look after him, for another."

Michayla rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She turned and walked back to the beach.

"Well, what's gotten you all grumpy today, Gingersnap?" Sawyer was smirking at her again.

She glared at him. "Go away."

Sawyer didn't leave, but instead walked over to her. "Suppose you wanted to play heroine again, did you? No wonder they didn't let you come."

"What are you talking about?" Michayla snapped.

"I seem to recall last time you wanted to help, you almost got yourself eaten by a polar bear."

Michayla stared out at the ocean, stony-faced. "Sawyer, how can you change from nice to mean and back again so quickly?"

"Dunno what you're talkin' about, princess." Sawyer smiled at her, seeming to be enjoying himself.

"Okay...so last night you shot a man. Then you rescued me from being trampled by that boar. And now you're entertaining yourself by antagonizing me." Michayla stood up. "I'm out of here." She started to walk off towards where Walt sat near Sun.

Sawyer's expression had turned cold. He seized her upper arm in such a tight grip it hurt and pulled her back over. "Listen, Gingersnap," he growled. "I didn't like killing that man any more than you liked seeing it. But hell, he _asked _me to. He was in pain and wanted it to end." Sawyer's eyes seemed at once sad and angry. "Who am I to say no?" He released Michayla's arm, thrusting her away from him. Then he turned and walked away.

Michayla's green eyes watched him for awhile and she wondered what it was about Sawyer that made him the way he was. Shrugging it off as none of her business, she walked over to Walt and Sun. "Hey, Walt," she said with a smile. "Hi, Sun." She knew Sun didn't speak English, but it seemed to be polite to greet her.

Sun greeted her in Korean as Walt answered, "Hi, Michayla."

"Whatcha doing?" she asked cheerfully.

"Nothing." Walt was petting Vincent, his dog. "Want to play fetch with me and Vincent?"

"Sure." Michayla smiled. She'd always liked baby-sitting, even when they were on a deserted island, it seemed. Walt found a stick and they amused themselves throwing it for the dog to chase.

Later that day Kate and Michael came out of the jungle. Michael's leg was wrapped in a cloth.

"Dad!" Walt ran over. "Are you okay? Your leg's all messed up!"

"Oh, it's nothing, not as bad as it looks," Michael assured him with a smile.

"The boar got him from behind," Kate explained as Michayla came up.

The three continued talking for a minute, but Michayla wasn't listening. Her thoughts kept returning to the nightmare she'd had twice now. She walked off down the beach, where she found Claire talking to Jack about having a memorial service when the fuselage was burned.

"Well...maybe I'll run it," Claire said cautiously.

"Yeah, sure." Jack seemed distracted. "Whatever everyone wants." Jack walked off.

"A memorial service is a good idea," Michayla told Claire. "A good way to remember those who didn't make it..."

"I thought so too," the young woman agreed. "Look at what I found." Claire showed Michayla a photo album filled with pictures of a young couple. "I guess they were going to be married."

Michayla gazed at the pictures. "Yeah...I'm sure they would have been happy. I hope they're happy where they are now."

---

"Trish, but where will you go?" Jackson asked worriedly.

Trish's young face was prematurely lined with sadness, her red hair pulled back. "We'll rent an apartment nearby." She looked at her husband apologetically. "It's just until you get help, Jackson, or until you think you can get better on your own. I'm starting to think maybe my mother was right...It might be better for Michayla to get some time away from you."

"I agree!" Jackson answered emphatically. "I just want to make sure you two will be okay."

Trish's eyes looked hard and determined. "We'll be fine."

"Mommy, why can't Daddy come with us?" whined five-year-old Michayla, clinging to her mother's hand but looking at her father with big eyes.

"Michayla, I promise you will see me again," Jackson told her seriously. "When you and your mom come home, everything will be better."

Trish turned and walked out the front door, carrying two large suitcases and Michayla trailing behind her.

The minivan was loaded with boxes as Trish pulled away from their house to take Michayla to a better life.

---

"I've been going through stuff we found in the wreckage," Claire continued. "I found names..sometimes their jobs. I think I'll just read them off and if anyone's lost someone in the crash, they can say a few words about them."

"That's so nice," Michayla commented. "If we can't bury them properly, it's nice to have some sort of service for them. I'll definitely be there."

"Thanks." Claire smiled. "I'll try to make it as...honorable...as these people deserve.

Michayla smiled and nodded. "Good. I'll see you later." Michayla continued along the beach, stopping here and there to greet people, but mainly thinking about whether or not it was just coincidence that she'd had a dream about twice, a scary dream that seemed so real, and was strangely reflecting her life...If this wasn't coincidence, it was at least very, very weird and a little freaky. Nothing like this had happened before she'd reached the island. Maybe the dreams would stop when things calmed down some.

"Hey, Michayla!" Charlie's voice sounded from behind her. Looking around, she realized she'd wandered far away from the camp area. Charlie ran up. "People probably shouldn't go so far on their own. You heard what happened in the jungle? Locke's only just come back. He got the boar, you know, so there'll be food."

"That's good," Michayla said in relief; she had seriously been getting hungry. "I didn't mean to get so far away...I kinda got lost in thought."

"Yeah, I understand." Charlie seemed a little distracted - sweaty and fidgety. Michayla furrowed her brow. What did that remind her of?

"Charlie?" she asked cautiously. "Can I ask you something sort of personal, without you getting mad?"

"What's that?" Charlie wasn't meeting her eye, but that could have been because he was being so twitchy.

"Are you a drug addict?"

Charlie froze and looked at her. "How did you know?" he asked worriedly.

She bit her lip. "My dad used to be addicted to heroin. I recognized the symptoms. You haven't had a fix for awhile, have you?"

"Not for several hours." Charlie rubbed his eyes. "I feel bloody awful."

"Have you ever tried stopping?" Michayla raised her eyebrows.

"A few times. It didn't go too well."

"It took a lot to get my dad to stop, too." Michayla could remember the day very well.

---

Michayla, now almost seven years old, was living with both her parents again. Jackson was still using drugs, but not as much as before.

The night before her seventh birthday, Jackson came to tuck her into bed. "Sleep tight, you almost-seven-year-old."

Michayla giggled. "Hurry up and go, I have to say my prayers."

Jackson kissed her forehead. "Okay, 'Chayla. Good night."

Once Jackson was gone, Michayla scrambled out of bed and got to her knees. She folded her hands. "Dear God, it's me, Michayla, again. Tomorrow is my seventh birthday, but I don't want lots of toys or games like a lot of kids would. I just want everyone to be happy. I want my daddy to stop using his drugs. That's all I want for my birthday, God. Amen." Michayla got into bed.

Outside her doorway, Jackson had overheard his daughter's prayer.

---

The next morning, Michayla ran down into the kitchen. Jackson was making blueberry pancakes for her birthday. "Hey there, birthday girl!" Jackson hugged her and she sat down at her place. A few presents sat on the table. Michayla looked at her dad.

"Is this all my presents?" she asked, wondering if her prayer would be answered.

Jackson looked serious. "Not quite." He pulled a small plastic bag out of a jar on the counter - his stash of heroin. Then he dropped it down the sink and ran the garbage disposal. He grinned at Michayla. "I'm not using drugs ever again."

Michayla gasped and clapped her hands. She ran over to hug her father.

---

"I know it's really bad for me." Charlie seemed defensive. "But if I feel this bad _now, _imagine how bad it would be after a week...two weeks..."

Michayla held up her hands. "I'm not going to try and stop you, because I know how it goes. When something happens that really makes you want to stop, you will."

Charlie shrugged. "I guess so."

"It's a choice, really."

"I know. What made your dad decide to stop?"

Michayla smiled. "He stopped because I wanted him to...that was enough."

Charlie looked pensive. "Now my turn to ask you something. Why aren't you mad at me for using drugs?"

Michayla thought. "I don't know," she admitted. "Stuff like that...it doesn't seem to be as big a deal here. I'm looking at the big picture...kind of cutting out thoughts that don't fit. Besides...I know how hard it must be to stop. My father was trying for a year before he finally quit."

"Thanks for not turning on me." Charlie managed a smile. "Not everyone would be so cool about it. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."

"Sure."

Charlie looked out at the horizon. "The sun's almost set. Claire will be burning the fuselage soon."

"Oh!" Michayla started jogging back. "I promised her I'd be there! Are you coming?"

"In a minute." Charlie walked behind her, not going directly to the fuselage but instead stepping into the forest for a few minutes.

----

Claire led the memorial service as the fuselage burned behind her. She read off names from papers she'd found. "Steve and Krista," Claire read from the photo album she'd found. "I don't know their last names...but they were really in love, and I guess...at least wherever they are now, they're not alone."

The flames rose high into the dark sky and Michayla felt an ache in her heart for the dead passengers and a cold fear about what would happen to the survivors if they were not soon rescued.

**A/N I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!**


	5. The Thief

**A/N: Chapter five...not a very good chapter, at least I don't think so. Takes place during White Rabbit. Also, I changed Chapter Four a little, small changes but important ones. So I'd go reread that one again. **

Chapter Five:

White Rabbit

or

The Thief

"Jack! Jack!" Charlie was running across the beach to where Jack sat. Charlie seemed scared. Michayla stood up and went over to Shannon, who stood staring anxiously out at the ocean.

"What's going on?" Michayla asked urgently.

"There's a woman out there, yelling for help." Shannon pointed with a shaky hand. "And - and Boone went after her."

"Boone's a lifeguard, isn't he?" Michayla asked, trying to reassure Shannon, who looked worried for her brother. "He'll be fine."

Shannon shook her head. "I don't think he's ever tried to rescue someone in water that rough before!"

Jack was swimming out to sea after the woman. Shannon and Michayla watched as he dove under the water and came up holding not the woman, but Boone.

"Boone!" screamed Shannon. "Boone!"

Jack was helping Boone reach the shore. Charlie and Kate rushed to help him onto the beach while Jack swam back out to try to reach the woman.

Shannon and Michayla ran over to Boone. "Boone, are you okay?"

Boone coughed, and blinked water out of his eyes. "Shannon?"

"Yes," Shannon answered, kneeling on the sand next to him.

"I'm fine," Boone said, suppressing another cough.

"Are you sure?" Michayla asked. "You were underwater for quite awhile before Jack reached you."

"I was fine!" Boone snapped. "I knew what I was doing! I told him to leave me and get the woman!"

They looked out to the ocean, hearing as the woman's cries died away to nothing.

----

"Who was she?" Michayla wondered aloud to Shannon later that day, after the woman was buried.

"Jack said her name was Joanna," Shannon answered. "She just...went swimming and got caught in the current, I guess. Boone thought he could save her, but the stupid guy almost got himself drowned too."

Michayla watched the waves lapping the edge of the beach. "When are they going to come?" she exploded, pounding her fists into the ground. "We've been here six days! You'd think they would have found us by now."

Shannon shook her head. "You heard that transmission. It could be awhile."

Michayla stared at Shannon. "Weren't you the one who was completely convinced the rescue boats would come?"

"Yeah." Shannon nodded. "That was before we heard the message." She sighed. "Now I don't know if anyone's coming."

Michayla sighed too. "My birthday's in four days. I was supposed to be home for it. I was supposed to have a party at my house with my friends and my boyfriend."

Shannon shrugged. "We could still make it...maybe. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Yeah," Michayla agreed.

---

Michayla was getting bored in Australia. Her grandparents meant well, but they had no idea of what would be fun for her to do. Michayla wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef - they took her to visit their friends on a farm. She wanted to go to the mall - they took her to a thrift shop. But most irritating to Michayla was that Grandma's favorite conversation topic to do was complaining about Michayla's father.

"I don't know why your mother hasn't taken you and left Jackson yet," Grandma constantly said. "My husband was a much better father to her." Granddad bobbed his head in agreement.

"Grandma," Michayla said patiently, trying to control her temper. "My dad stopped using drugs almost nine years ago. He's clean - and he did it for me."

Grandma sniffed and went to answer the phone as it rang. "Michayla, dear," she called. "It's for you."

Michayla got up and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, chica!"

"Cassie!" squealed Michayla. "Isn't this call costing you a fortune? Gosh, what time is it there?"

"Noon. What time is it there?"

"Eight o'clock p.m. What's up?"

"I miss yooou!"

"I'll be home in another week. What's going on at home? How's Cam?"

"Pining away for the love of his life. He misses you, he's no fun since you left."

"I'm sure." Michayla rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to the movies this afternoon with him and Kayla, Josh, Mackenzie, and Darren. Just as friends, you know, but I'll tell him you miss him and sob every moment you're away from him."

"Don't," Michayla advised her. "Just say hi for me and tell him I miss him."

"All right, well, it sounds like my mom just discovered I'm calling Australia -" Michayla could her Cassie's mom yelling at her to get off the phone, " - so I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"

"Okay! Bye!"

"Bye."

---

Michayla was helping Kate sort clothes from the suitcases on the beach later that day. "What are we going to do with all this stuff?" Michayla asked, tossing a miniskirt into the pile of non-practical clothes.

Kate shrugged. "Give them out to anyone who needs them. We can still all maintain some sort of personal hygiene, even without showers."

Michayla laughed, finding a hair tie in the suitcase and using it to pull her long red hair into a ponytail. "That's better. My hair was making my neck so hot. Does it ever cool down on a tropical island?"

"Kate!" The little boy Walt was running up to them, looking worried.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, standing up.

"That pregnant lady fell down!" Walt exclaimed, pointing.

Michael carried Claire into Jack's tent. Kate and Michayla rushed in after him. Several people were already there. "Claire, honey?" Kate patted the young woman's cheeks. "Can you hear me?" She turned to Charlie. "She needs water!"

"There isn't any water!" Charlie looked panicked. "Some git nicked it all!"

"What?" cried Michayla. "Why would they do that?"

"Don't ask me!" Charlie seemed furious as he looked down at Claire's limp form. "She passes out and needs water and there isn't any to give her!"

"Where's Jack?" Kate asked.

"No one knows," Sayid replied. "No one's seen him. I could go any find him, if you want."

"No," Locke broke in. "The camp's already shook up about Jack being missing. I'll find him. I know where to look."

Michayla wondered how he knew.

Hurley appeared in the tent. "Uh, the Chinese people have water." Hurley pointed.

"Korean," Michayla corrected.

"Yeah, them," Hurley said. "They have water."

----

Sayid held the empty bottle in front of Sun's face. "Where did you get this?" he asked angrily. "Where?"

Sun answered in Korean, looking worried.

"Sayid, she doesn't understand you," Kate said, trying to calm him down.

"Oh, she understands me," he hissed. "Who gave this to you?"

Sun pointed. Michayla followed her gaze. "We should have known," she muttered.

Sawyer. Kate started over to him, but Sayid grabbed her arm. "Don't confront him now, he won't tell you anything. But a rat will always lead you back to its nest."

Kate, Sayid, and Michayla followed Sawyer into the jungle. He dug through a suitcase hidden in the undergrowth. Kate ran up behind him and tackled him to the ground.

"Where's the water?" she growled.

"It's about time, Freckles."

"For what?" Kate asked angrily.

"I made this birthday wish four years ago." Sawyer flipped Kate over so he was on top of her. "That's better."

"Get off her!" Sayid wrested Sawyer away from Kate.

"Where did you get the water to give to the Koreans?" Michayla asked furiously.

"Oh, goodness, I'm in trouble, ain't I?" Sawyer rolled his eyes at her. "I've got a fifteen year old kid on my case now, better watch my step, shouldn't I? Look, I traded Mr. Miyagi the last of my water for the fish he caught."

"Why?" questioned Kate.

"Water has no value, Freckles! It's gonna rain sooner or later. Hell, I'm an optimist."

Sayid and Kate walked out of the jungle. Sawyer tossed Kate the badge he'd taken from the marshal. "Seeing as you're the new sheriff in town," he sneered. He turned to Michayla. "And what're you still doin' here, Gingersnap?"

"Nothing," she muttered, walking away.

"Somethin', princess, or you wouldn't have stayed behind!"

She sighed. "Just trying to figure you out, that's all."

"Well, you can't!" he yelled. "So get lost!"

"You always say that, Sawyer, but in case you haven't noticed, we're _all _lost. And we're going to be lost for a long time, it looks like." Michayla stomped off.

---

The phone was ringing again. Grandma answered it. "Hello?...Well, hi, Trish...Yes, she's fine...yes, she's right here." Grandma handed Michayla the phone. "It's your mother."

"Oh!" Michayla said with a smile, happy to hear from her parents. She held the phone to her ear. "Hi, Mom!"

"Michayla, honey?" Trish's voice sounded sad. "I'm afraid I had some bad news..."

Michayla's legs gave way and she sat down on the couch with a thump. What could make her mother sound so sad and worried? "What happened?" she whispered.

---

A fight was breaking out near Jack's tent. Michayla rushed over to see Charlie and Boone hitting each other. Two people quickly jumped in and pulled them apart.

"He's the one who took the water!" yelled Charlie, struggling to get away from Sayid, who held onto him.

"Stop!" A voice rang out from the edge of the jungle. Jack stepped into the firelight. "We can't keep fighting amongst ourselves," Jack continued. "Now, I found water. There are some caves in a valley over there and I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to come, find some other way to help out, because if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

Jack had also brought back some water from the caves he'd talked about. Michayla sat down next to the fire and gratefully took the bottle of water offered to her by Hurley. He sat down next to her.

"Michayla, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Michayla replied. "And you're Hurley."

"Yeah, that's my name. Or...nickname. But you can call me Hurley." He smiled at her. "So, you doing okay?"

"Yeah," Michayla answered in what she thought was an overly cheerful voice. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh...'cause we're on an island." Hurley tilted his head to the side. "And you're like...the youngest person here, other than Walt. Just wondered if you were okay, being away from home and your parents. Aren't you homesick?"

Michayla paused. "Yes, I miss my parents...but we can't be on this island much longer, can we? I'm sure I'll see them soon." Michayla smiled cheerfully. "Thanks for the water, Hurley."

"No problem."

_---_

_"We'll get you on a plane home tomorrow," Grandma told Michayla, a sorrowful expression on her face. "You can get on Flight 815 from the airport in Sydney, so you'll get home as soon as you can..."_

_Michayla forced a smile. "Thanks for everything, Grandma. I hope I'll see you sometime."_

_"I hope so too, dear."_

_---_

**A/N: Sorry, but you will not know what the bad news was until the sequal to this story, unless I change my mind about it. Oh, and be proud of me for having very little of Charlie in this chapter! Reviews are loved!**


	6. The Caves

**A/N: Yay, new chapter! And it's MUCH better than the last one in my opinion. Enjoy and please review!**

**Chapter Six:****  
House of the Rising Sun**

** or **

**The Caves**

"Ow!" Michayla lifted her foot out of the water as pain zinged through it. She had changed into shorts and a green tank top from her luggage and gone wading in the ocean, near where Jin liked to go fishing. Now, however, there was a sharp piece of a clam-shell sticking into her heel. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the shard out. Blood dripped down her foot into the water.

"Crap!" Michayla hobbled to the shore and sat down, examining the damage. It didn't seem too bad, but it hurt like crazy, and Jack had gone off with Kate, Charlie and Locke to the caves.

So there was no doctor around. Awkwardly getting to her feet, she limped across the beach, making her way towards where her suitcase sat.

"Are you all right?" A man came up to her, a concerned expression on his face.

Michayla lifted her foot, showing him her wound. "Stepped on a broken shell."

"Ouch!" said the man sympathetically. "I've got a towel you could press on it. Stop the bleeding. My name's Scott, by the way," he added as he led her over to his stuff.

Michayla nodded, teeth gritted against pain. "Michayla."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Michayla," replied Scott with a smile, pulling a hand towel out of his bag and tossing it to her. "Just press it on there. I'm no doctor, but if it's not too deep, that should stop the bleeding."

Michayla took the towel and applied pressure to her bleeding heel. "Thanks."

"No trouble." Scott shrugged. "Least I could do to help out."

Michayla smiled a strained smile and nodded. "So," she asked, making polite conversation, "how come you were on the plane?"

"Heading home," Scott answered. "I was on a business trip. And you? You were alone?"

"Yeah," she said, lifting the towel for a moment, peering at the cut, then pressing the towel back down. "I was on my way home too, after I visited my grandparents."

Scott nodded. "If you don't want to sit there holding that down until it stops bleeding, we could wrap something around it."

"Good idea," Michayla agreed. Scott took the towel and tore it in half so it was narrower and wrapped it around Michayla's foot, tying it tightly. Michayla stood up, gingerly taking a few steps to test it. "Thanks."

"No problem," Scott replied with a smile. "See you later."

"Yeah." Michayla walked down the beach, her heel hurting considerably less.

A commotion caught her attention from farther down the beach. Jin, Sun's husband, dashed down the beach and tackled Michael, knocking him into the water. Walt stood nearby, yelling for his dad, and for Jin to leave him alone. Sun was screaming in Korean, looking extremely distressed as Michayla quickly limped her way over, going straight for Walt. She knelt down and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Walt, what happened? What's going on?"

Walt was looking confused and scared. "That guy just ran over here and attacked my dad!"

"You don't know why?"

"No!" Walt answered, now looking close to tears. "We were just walking and he tackled my dad!"

Sawyer and Sayid were running over as fast as they could. Sayid knocked Jin off Michael and they heaved Michael to his feet, helping him out of the water. Walt ran over to them. "Dad!"

Sayid looked cold. "Someone get the handcuffs."

While Sawyer went to look for the handcuffs Walt had found in the woods recently, Sayid was interrogating Michael, pressing him to know if he had provoked Jin. Michael stated over and over that he hadn't done anything. Sayid turned to Michayla. "Did you see Jin attack him?" he asked her, sounding harsh.

Michayla nodded slowly.

"What happened, exactly?"

Michayla bit her lip, feeling nervous, as if she were testifying in court. "I ... was walking down the beach, away that way." She gestured to where she had been. "I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, and I turned and saw Jin knocking Michael into the water. I didnt see Michael do anything, or say anything, but like I said, I was way over there. Then when I came over here, I asked Walt what happened and he said Jin wasn't provoked. I don't think Michael did a thing."

Michael gestured to her and looked from her to Sayid as if saying, "See! I told you!"

Sawyer returned with the handcuffs and Jin was chained to part of the plane. Sun, still looking very upset, stood by Jin's side and spoke in Korean, tapping her wrist anxiously.

"Jin attacked Michael," Sayid snapped. "The handcuffs stay on until we know why."

Everyone turned and walked off, leaving Sun and Jin alone. Michayla looked over her shoulder at them as she left. She could only imagine what it would be like the be lost on an island where no one spoke your language.

Michayla wove her way through the throng of people back to where she left her bag. Her diary sat on top of the jumble of items inside. She scooped up the small, velvet covered book and the pen that lay beneath it and sat down on the sand, opening the diary.

**Dear Diary,**

**Well, not much to report. I know it's been a few days, but honestly, so little has gone on here that there's nothing worth writing about.**

**Actually, I had this weird creepy dream twice. Almost seems like it's coming true. Somewhat. Maybe. I'm probably overreacting.**

**Found out Charlie's a heroin addict, just like Dad used to be. A little disappointing to find out this deep, dark secret about a famous rock star that a lot of people admire. Cam was learning how to play guitar when I left for Sydney. Actually, Drive Shaft sucks big time. But, Charlie can play guitar, I guess, according to Cassie. She once went to a Drive Shaft concert when she visited London with her parents - said she had backstage passes and everything. When she came back she made me listen to one of their CDs and "You All Everybody" was stuck in my head for days - so annoying! When I told her that, she pretended to be mad at me - Drive Shaft was - still is - her favorite band.**

**I'm rambling. I see Jack and Kate coming back from the caves now, so I'm going to go see what they have to say. And I need Jack to look at my foot - stepped on a broken shell and sliced it open this morning.**

**-Michayla**

Michayla closed her diary and carefully tucked it into her bag. She stood up and walked over to Jack and Kate.

"Hey," she said. "Did you bring water back or what?"

"Yes." Jack handed her a bottle. "You should drink some. But I don't think we'll like lugging water back and forth from the caves to the beach."

"Jack thinks we should all move to the caves," Kate added, rolling her eyes.

"But that's a good idea!" Michayla exclaimed, leaning against a tree at the edge of the jungle. "Wouldn't we be safer?"

"That's what I said," Jack replied, clearly happy that she agreed with him.

"Who's going to stay and keep the signal fire going?" argued Kate, raising her eyebrows.

Jack shrugged. "It's your choice if you want to stay or go, but I don't see why you'd want to stay here."

"Jack," Michayla interrupted abruptly, ending the argument. "Can you look at this cut on my foot?" She lifted it off the ground.

Jack furrowed his brow as he saw the towel wrapped around it. "What'd you do?"

"Stepped on a broken shell," she explained. "It kinda still hurts."

"Come on." Jack led Michayla to the tent where he'd tended to the marshal. Michayla sat down awkwardly. Jack sat facing her. "Can you unwrap it?"

Michayla gingerly unwrapped the towel from around her heel. Jack examined the cut. "It's a little deep, but I don't think you'll need stitches."

Michayla was relieved. She knew that if she'd needed stitches Jack would literally have had to sew her foot up. "What's the deal, then?"

"I just need to clean it and put a bandage on it. Since it's on the bottom of your foot it need to be wrapped up until it heals so it doesn't get dirty." Jack pulled out some sort of liquid and blotted it onto Michayla's cut.

"Ow!" She winced, pulling away. "What is that?" Michayla demanded.

"It's alcohol," Jack informed her. "We don't have a lot of medicine someone would normally use, but this works." He finished cleaning it and wrapped it in a bandage. "There you go."

Michayla stood up, testing it. "Thanks!"

"No problem," Jack replied, smiling. "Be sure you let me look at it if it starts hurting worse. We don't want it to get infected."

"I will," Michayla promised. "So - these caves - you're sure they're safe? I mean, they have water and everything?"

"Yes," Jack replied. "Are you planning on going?"

"Yeah, most likely." Michayla turned to leave the tent. "Thanks again."

---

_"I saw Drive Shaft in concert!" sang Cassie upon walking into Michayla's backyard, where Michayla sat on the porch, reading a magazine._

_"I really don't ca-are!" Michayla sang back, turning a page of her magazine._

_"You should care!" Cassie shoved the program from the concert into Michayla's face. "Look at that, if you would!" She plopped herself proudly into the chair next to Michayla's. "I had backstage passes!"_

_Michayla looked at the cover of the program. Two signatures adorned the front. Michayla frowned. "Who are Liam and Charlie Pace?"_

_Cassie clutched at her chest and pretended to die, falling to the ground. "You don't know?? What's wrong with you, woman?"_

_"I don't like Drive Shaft." She returned to the magazine. "So, who are they?"_

_"Liam's the singer. Charlie plays bass and does backup vocals. Liam Pace is the best singer ever - and he's cute!"_

_Michayla peered over the top of the magazine. "Show me a picture."_

_Cassie took the program and flicked through it. "There!" She pointed to a photo and handed it to Michayla._

_Michayla looked at it, wrinkled her nose, and shoved it back. "Are you kidding? He's oogly!"_

_Cassie's eyes grew wide. "You have no taste." She tossed a CD into Michayla's lap. "Here. Listen to it, then bring it back to me - and then we'll see what you say about Drive Shaft."_

_"Sure," yawned Michayla. "Listen, Cass, my parents and I are going to the movies tonight, so, not meaning to sound rude, but you need to leave."_

_"All right." Cassie stood up. "Just wanted to bring the CD over and gloat about the concert. See you tomorrow!"_

_"Bye."_

---

The small assembly of people trekked through the jungle to the caves, Jack leading the way. After a time they reached them.

"Finally!" Hurley panted. "I thought he said it was a short walk!"

Michayla entered the caves and looked around. A waterfall cascaded down one of the walls to form a small pool of drinking water. The caves were large enough for everyone to live there. Michayla smiled. It was the best place she'd seen since they'd crashed.

Charlie sat by the pool of water, playing his guitar. Michayla grinned and jogged over, dropping her bag near him. "Hey, you found your guitar!"

"Yeah," Charlie replied with a smile. "Locke found it in the jungle, up in a tree. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah." Michayla was quiet for a minute. "You know, my friend Cassie loved you guys. Drive Shaft, I mean."

Charlie looked at her. "Really?"

"Uh huh. She saw you guys at one of your concerts in London - one of your last ones, I think. She had backstage passes. You and your brother signed her program." Michayla searched Charlie's face, wondering if he would remember her friend.

Charlie's brow furrowed. "Not many people had backstage passes for that concert. What's your friend like?"

Michayla thought. "She was about fourteen when she saw you. Hyper, talkative. Here." Michayla dug into her bag and pulled out the scrapbook, opening it to a photo of herself and Cassie from two years ago.

Charlie took a sip of water and looked at the picture. He frowned. "Mmm...I think I remember her. Did she squeal a lot?"

Michayla laughed. "She would have, being backstage at a Drive Shaft concert. She wouldn't shut up about it for ages after she got home. Do you remember if she said anything to you?"

"Well, she talked really fast, if I'm thinking about the right person." He handed the photo back. "She seemed like a nice girl."

"She is," Michayla agreed. "Gosh, she loved you guys. She said you were nice to her, but I think she was disappointed because she didn't get much of a chance to talk to Liam."

Charlie snorted. "Liam was probably high. He wouldn't have wanted to spend much time with the fans after a concert."

"Oh, I see." Michayla flipped through her scrapbook idly. It fell open to a picture of herself and Cam at Homecoming from freshman year

---

_"Happy homecoming!" Cam said as Michayla opened the door when he came to pick her up._

_Michayla laughed. "Yeah, thanks. You look nice."_

_"So do you!" Michayla wore a long gold dress held up by thin straps over her shoulders. A sparkly headband held her hair back._

_Michayla blushed self-consciously. "Thanks."_

_"Look, I got something for you." Cam pulled out a small jewelry box and opened it to reveal a gold necklace with a small charm on it - a drumstick and a flute, forming an X._

_Michayla's mouth dropped open. "Wow!" she breathed. "Where did you get that?"_

_"It wasn't easy to find, but I saw it - and it was just perfect for you." Cam smiled, his deep blue eyes shining. "You want to put it on?"_

_"Yeah." Michayla turned. "Can you fasten it around my neck?" She pulled her hair to the side. Cam draped the necklace around her and fastened the clasp._

_Michayla turned to face him. "Thank you. I'll keep this forever." Her fingers touched the necklace and she smiled._

---

On the same page was a picture of the necklace Cam had taken.

"Remember me when this you see," Cam had scrawled next to it. Michayla reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace from where it had been tucked since they'd crashed. She gazed at it, not saying a word.

"Michayla? Are you all right?" Charlie sounded concerned.

Michayla turned her head away from him and dropped the necklace, letting it fall against her chest. "Yeah," she replied, blinking. "Just fine."

**A/N So there were some monstrously large hints as to what the bad news in the last chapter was. I was a little leery about putting this up, because I'm seriously afraid everyone's going to figure it out now. Oh well. Please review!**


	7. The Cave In

**A/N And now I bring you...(insert fanfore here) Chapter Seven! I like this chapter pretty well! I hope you like it all right. No flashbacks in this one, sorry...but Michayla's birthday's next chapter so there'll be flaskbacks then. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Seven:  
The Moth**

** or **

**The Cave-In**

Michayla woke up with her hand curled tightly around her necklace the next morning. She unclenched her fist, wiggling her numb fingers to restore circulation. Sitting up, she tucked her necklace down her shirt for safekeeping and looked around. The caves were coming alive, people getting up and moving. Michayla heaved herself to her feet and idly walked around the cave, observing her surroundings. Sun was scooping water into bottles and setting them next to the pond. Jack and Hurley were trying to organize the bags in the cave so they weren't in everyone's way. Walking outside the cave, she found Charlie playing his guitar just outside.

"Hey," she said. "How come you're out here?"

"Feeling bloody awful," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Withdrawal...gave my stash to Locke..."

"Good for you!" Michayla smiled, surprised.

"Don't get your hopes up," he warned. "I'm going to get it back."

"Why?" groaned Michayla. "Look, I know it's hard - my dad was sick for days after he quit. But you've got to try, Charlie!"

He shook his head. "I can't. Look, I'll run out eventually, and then I'll have to quit! Won't you be happy, then!" he snapped.

Michayla took a step backward. "Fine," she said softly and coolly. "I'll leave you alone, then." She turned to leave.

"Michayla!" She turned back. Charlie set his guitar down and stood up. "I'm sorry I yelled. You're only trying to help. I understand." Charlie seemed to be searching for a new conversation topic. "Who gave you that necklace? I saw you looking at it last night."

Michayla instinctively grabbed her necklace through her shirt. "Cam gave it to me. My boyfriend. I miss him," she replied rather shortly, not wanting to talk about it.

Charlie looked sympathetic. "You homesick?"

Michayla nodded. "Yeah, a little. My birthday's in two days and I'm not even going to be there for it. It sucks."

"Charlie." Locke was approaching the two of them. "Why don't you come for a walk with me?"

Charlie returned to his guitar. "No thanks, Locke."

"The fresh air will be good for you," he coaxed.

Charlie looked at him. "I'm fine."

Locke shrugged. "Suit yourself. Michayla, would you come with me?"

Michayla shrugged and followed him into the woods. "What are we doing?"

"I'm trying to trap a boar. Trapping them," he explained. "would be much easier than taking a group of three into the jungle every time we're low on food."

"So.. how are you setting a trap?"

Locke pointed at the ground. "I've got a net hidden here. The boar steps on it, and we get the net hoisted up into the air so he can't escape. Then we kill it, clean it, cook it, and eat it."

"How do you get the boar to step into the net?" Michayla asked.

Locke smiled. "Live bait."

"Live bait?" demanded Michayla. "How..."

"Just wait back here with me and watch," Locke cut in. "Sooner or later something will come along." Locke settled himself cross-legged behind a tree, gazing out at the place where his boar-trap was set. Michayla sat next to him, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Why do you seem so happy?" blurted Michayla. "You don't seem concerned about getting home or worried about this monster or anything that other people are worried about."

Locke turned to face her. "Michayla," he began. "I've been many places and felt many things in my life...but this place... is different from anywhere I've been before." He leaned closer. "It works miracles."

Michayla raised an eyebrow. "Miracles?"

"Do you believe in miracles, Michayla?" Locke asked her.

She hesitated. "Well...yes, I suppose so," she admitted. "But way back in the time of Jesus. Nowadays...I just don't know."

"Well, believe what you will," Locke said. "My belief is that this is a good place to be."

Michayla snorted. "I'm sorry. I can't believe that."

"Michayla, tell me: Hasn't anything unusual happened to you since we crashed here?"

Locke's words echoed in her head. _Hasn't anything unusual happened since we crashed here?_

The dream returned to her thoughts, looming like a cloud of darkness and danger in her mind. Michayla gave a short nod to Locke. That'd be something unusual, she thought, if unusual is even the word for it.

Locke nodded knowingly. "It'll happen to everyone," he predicted. "Something new and strange - but for the better - will happen to everyone. Think about this - what if everything that happened on the island happened for a reason?"

Before Michayla had a chance to ask him what he was talking about, a rustling in the undergrowth caught her attention. She and Locke jumped to their feet. A second later, Charlie ran into view, closely pursued by a boar. The boar stepped into the net and Locke heaved it up. Charlie stopped in his tracks.

"Thanks, Charlie," called Locke. "You were excellent bait." He pulled out his knife and walked over the the squealing boar.

"I'm out!" Michayla quickly walked away, not wanting to be there when he killed the boar.

_What if everything that happened - happened for a reason?_

Locke's words swirled around in her distorted thoughts, winding its way through her dreams and feeling. She kicked a stone, watching it roll into the bushes. What had Locke meant, anyway? What did he mean, miracles?

Her feet led her back to the caves. She stood by the entrance, lost in thought.

"Coming through!" Michayla jumped aside as Hurley lugged several bags into the caves to put with the rest of the luggage. He stopped. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, too quickly. She mentally cursed herself for her thoughts. She hated dwelling on that dream! Look, she told herself sternly, things really aren't that bad. We have food, shelter, and a signal fire on the beach. People are getting along for the most part, and you even have your diary! What is there to be worried about?

Michayla turned and left the caves again, winding her way to the beach. She didn't feel like staying in the caves with so many people around.

The sun shone brightly down on the beach, warming the sand. Michayla kicked off her shoes and socks, wishing she could go in the ocean, but the bandage on her foot was still there, shining bright white in the sun. Sitting down, she absentmindedly played with her hair until she had it in a long braid. She tied it off with the hair tie she had around her wrist.

Bored, Michayla wandered the beach, watching everyone bustle about their business. Michayla was amazed at the fact that even on a deserted island, people still managed to find work to do. Guiltily she wondered whether she ought to be helping with something.

"Hey, there, Pippi!" a familiar Southern accent called out from behind her. Rolling her eyes at the brand-new nickname, she turned to face Sawyer.

"Pippi Longstocking had two braids that stuck up into the air," Michayla countered him. "And freckles. I have one braid and no freckles, thank you very much."

Sawyer raised his eyebrows. "Thank you for that useful bit of information, I'm sure it'll come in handy one of these days." He folded his arms. "Come back to join the rest of us optimists?"

"I am an optimist," Michayla growled. "I prefer the caves to the beach, where sand gets everywhere. And I don't like being out in the open."

"No need to get defensive, sweetheart," Sawyer said in a too-polite tone hiding the insult buried in his words. "So what brings you to our sandy shores?"

"Boredom," Michayla replied, not entirely truthful.

"And you'd thought you might visit me to brighten up your day?" Sawyer smirked. "I'm touched."

"I didn't come here for you!" Michayla snapped, annoyed at his taunts. "You're so arrogant, you automatically assume everyone loves you, when really it's the complete opposite - "

"Hey!" Sawyer cut in, humor gone from his face. "No kid is gonna talk to me like that, you're awful stupid - "

"Just because you think you're so special doesn't mean - "

"You really think you're somethin', don't you, Gingersnap? There's no reason to pick a fight every time I talk to you - you've got some obsession with fighting, especially with me - "

"I don't try to fight, you just can't take it!" Michayla raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, as it daring him to think of a comeback.

"Right," Sawyer said, breathing heavily, "right, well, I guess we know who's Queen of the Island, then. You can go prance on back to the caves now and pick a fight with everyone there. I'll see you around, princess."

Michayla longed to throw a retort back at Sawyer's retreating figure, but held it back. He aggravated her so much! She supposed that it was just their personalities clashing with each other... he father had always said, affectionately, that Michayla was sometimes too headstrong for her own good. Michayla knew the same could be said for Sawyer.

As Michayla walked down the beach she noticed an older, African-American woman struggled to carry a suitcase up the beach. Michayla hurried over. "Here," she reached out to take the suitcase, "let me help."

"Oh, thank you, honey." The woman wiped her forehead. "It's my husband's suitcase, I've just found it. I'll have to keep it safe for him until he gets back."

"Where is he now?" asked Michayla, confused.

"He was in the tail section," explained the woman. She looked at Michayla. "Jack says he's dead, and I bet you're thinking the same thing, but he is alive. I can feel it. You can just set the bag here, honey," she added.

"How do you know?" asked Michayla, setting the suitcase down.

"I can feel it," repeated the woman. "Thanks, for helping me, dear. My name's Rose."

"I'm Michayla," Michayla replied, still nonplussed but impressed by Rose's faith.

Rose smiled at her and Michayla smiled back before turning to walk back to the caves.

As she started into the jungle, Charlie ran past her. "Charlie?" she called, turning to run after him. "What's going on?"

"There's been a cave-in!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Jack - he's trapped in it! Go back and help dig!"

Michayla nodded and began running. She reached the caves within a few minutes, where Michael was organizing people to dig.

"We should take shifts!" he explained. "We don't want anyone to get exhausted. Everyone be very careful!" he added as they began to dig.

It was hot and dusty. Stray hairs that had escaped Michayla's braid stuck to her sticky neck and forehead. She imagined what it must be like for Jack to be trapped inside and shuddered at the thought of being in an enclosed, dark space for so long.

"Anyone who's working now come take a break and get some water!" called Michael. "If you haven't been helping, take over for someone!"

Michayla gladly moved away from the pile of rubble to get a drink from the water bottle Hurley passed her. She sat with her back against the cave wall, sipping water while the second shift of workers dug.

"How do we know Jack's not suffocated?" she asked Michael anxiously. "How do we know he's alive?"

"Well..." Michael hesitated. "We don't," he finally admitted. "But we're gonna dig anyway."

Finally the tunnel went all the way through. "Jack!" Michael called into it. "Are you all right? Can you get out?"

"I'm trapped under some rubble!" came Jack's reply. sounding far off. "I can't get out on my own!"

"Okay, we'll send someone in through the tunnel!" Michael called back. Michael turned and looked around at the crowd of people. No one seemed to want to go through the tunnel. No one was small enough, Michayla noticed.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. "I'll do it," she called out in a quavery voice.

Michael stared at her. "Michayla, no," he said quickly, "you don't have to - "

"No one else could fit through that tunnel," she countered.

"I could try and get through," Michael argued.

"I'll do it!" Michayla repeated more firmly.

"I don't think so!" Everyone turned to look at Charlie as he walked in. "You've got friends and parents waiting for you back home. What if something happened?" Charlie looked around at the rest of the group. "She's got a husband!" He gestured towards Sun. "He's got a sister!" He motioned at Boone. "What have I got?" Charlie looked determined. "I'll go."

Michael looked at him. "Hey - you sure?" Charlie nodded and Michael clapped him on the back. "Be careful, man."

Charlie nodded and began his descent into the pile of rocks. Michael and Hurley stood at the mouth of the tunnel, watching carefully. Suddenly the rocks began to tremble again.

"Charlie!" Michael bellowed. "Get out of there!"

It was too late. The group stood watching transfixed and horrified as the tunnel collapsed again, this time burying Charlie into the mountainous grave along with Jack.

"Charlie!" Michayla screamed, running over. "Jack!"

The rocks still cascaded down and Hurley pulled her away until it stopped.

"Listen, everyone!" Michael called seriously. "We need to be very careful. Jack and Charlie probably have a little space in there and we don't want that to collapse - "

"Where's Jack?" Kate flew into the caves, out of breath and anxious.

"In there." Michael pointed at the place where the tunnel had been.

"Does anyone know if he's alive?" Kate demanded.

"Charlie just went in after him," Michael filled her in, "but the tunnel collapsed."

"Then why isn't anyone digging?" Kate walked over to the pile of rubble and began shifted some of the rocks and dirt. Several people went over to help.

Michayla dug at least for another hour. Everyone was working hard, even Walt's dog. Vincent knew something was wrong and was digging with his front paws, spewing dirt onto anyone behind him.

Michayla paused to wipe her forehead. "You all right?" Michael asked. "You're working awfully hard..."

"Hey, look, it's the doctor!" Walt's excited voice filled the air. Everyone whirled around to look.

Jack and Charlie, looking dirty, sweaty, but otherwise unharmed, were walking into the caves. Kate stood up and ran down to Jack, flinging her arms around him.

"How did you get out?" Hurley asked excitedly.

"It was Charlie," Jack replied, patting him on the back. "Charlie found the way out."

"Dude, you rock!" Hurley hugged Charlie, lifting him off the ground.

Everyone was laughing, trying to get close enough to Jack and Charlie to hug them or shake their hand.

"Good to see you out of there," Michayla laughed upon reaching Charlie, a broad smile on her face.

"Glad to be out," Charlie replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Told you you shouldn't go in there."

"Yeah, well..." Michayla shrugged, still grinning. "You guys okay?" she asked, including Jack in her question.

"We're just fine," Jack answered her. "All thanks to Charlie, of course.." Charlie grinned sheepishly.

----

That night everyone was somewhat subdued in the caves, owing to the day's excitement. Michayla sat by the pool, sipping water, when Charlie left his place beside Jack to come over to Michayla. He sat down, looking sick.

"You'll be happy to know I've given up the drugs," he told her. "You'll also be happy to hear that I'm sick from withdrawal."

Michayla laughed and gave him a quick hug. "I'm not happy to hear you don't feel good," she said, "but I am glad you're going to quit using. Good for you!"

"Yeah, you can tell that to me when the withdrawal stops." Charlie's hands were shaking as he took a drink of water. "Right now I'm sort of wishing I had my stash."

"You'll feel better in the long run," Michayla assured him. "'Course, I'm not an expert..but I think you will."

"I suppose." Charlie sighed. "I'm going to go try and get some sleep. G'night, Michayla."

"'Night." Michayla watched him walk across the cave.

-----

It was late at night when Michayla sat up again, breathing hard and eyes wide. She'd had the same dream again, scarier than ever. Tiptoeing around the sleeping bodies, she picked up a bottle of water and drank some, sitting by the pond. Every little noise made her jump and she glanced around the dark cave, eyes still stretched wide open in the darkness, attempting to see into the shadows.

"Are you all right?"

Michayla jumped a foot in the air before she noticed a man coming towards her. "Yes," she gasped, heart racing. "I think so!"

"What are you doing up?" The man sat down near her. He was a middle aged man, brown-haired with a curved nose.

"Nightmare," Michayla squeaked out, placing a hand over her pounding heart. "The same one..."

"The same one?" The man leaned over to her, scrutinizing her closely.

Michayla furrowed her brow. "Who are you?" she questioned him.

"Ethan," the man told her. "Ethan Rom. And your name is...?"

"Michayla Swanson." She felt her heart rate slowing down to normal.

"What was your dream about?"

"Just...things." Michayla shrugged. "Abstract stuff, mostly." She was more comfortable talking about it now than after she first had it. She felt herself falling half-asleep. "Really realistic though," she yawned. "Felt like stuff that'd happened in my life..." Sleepiness muddled her brain.

Ethan was still looking at her. The sliver of his face that Michayla could see in the darkness looked very interested. "What things?" he wanted to know. "You ever had a dream like this before...?"

It was too late. Tiredness had taken over and Michayla slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

**A/N The plot thickens...dun dun dun! Please review, thanks very much!**


	8. The Confrontation

**A/N I'm sort of editing some old chapters of mine...ones that seriously embarass me to look at. XD Maybe this means I'll actually get to new chapters at some point? Maybe.**

**Chapter Eight:**

**Confidence Man**

**or**

**The Confrontation**

_Two little girls were jumping rope in the driveway. "Cinderella, dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss her fellow, accidentally kissed a snake, how many doctors did it take?" they chanted in perfect unison. "One, two, three, four..." Smoke drifted their way from where a neighbor was burning leaves._

_Suddenly one of the girls began coughing hard. She dropped her jump rope and fell to her knees, wheezing and gasping for breath._

_The second girl dropped her rope too. "Cassie, what's wrong?" she asked in a panicked voice. "Cassie!"_

_"Call..." Cassie wheezed. "Get your...dad...tell him...I need my mommy...my inhaler..."_

_"Daddy!" shrieked the girl, turning to run inside, red ponytails bouncing on her back. "Daddy! Cassie's sick, she needs her mommy!"_

_Jackson came running outside at his daughter's screams. He took one look at Cassie and ran for the phone._

_"Daddy, what's wrong?" Michayla begged, looking anxiously at her friend, who was doubled over, unable to breathe._

_"Asthma attack," he said vaguely, punching in numbers on the phone. "I'm calling her mom, then the doctor...go on back outside, stay with her..."_

_Michayla obediently ran back out to Cassie. "My daddy's calling your mommy!" she squeaked, frightened. "It's okay, Cassie, okay?"_

_Cassie, unable to speak, nodded. Her eyes were streaming. Soon Cassie's mom pulled up in her car, closely followed by an ambulance. Michayla watched as two doctors got Cassie into the ambulance and sped away, alarm wailing, Cassie's mom following in her car._

_How many doctors did it take? The jump-rope chant repeated over and over in Michayla's head._

---

"Breathe, Shannon!" Michayla whispered urgently. "Can you breathe?"

"She needs her inhaler!" snapped Boone, panicking.

"Where is it, then?" Michayla shot back. She had been walking in the jungle with Boone and Shannon when Shannon's breathing had gotten ragged and rough. Boone had then revealed that Shannon had asthma, and began to panic because she didn't have her medicine with her.

"It's..gone!" Shannon wheezed in between coughs. "Ran out . . . the other day!"

"Okay, Shannon, it's okay," Michayla said soothingly, rubbing her back. "Just try and breathe, you're not having an attack. . ." Michayla turned to Boone. "Does she have another one?"

"I don't know where it is, I - !" Boone's face changed as he seemed to realize something. "Maybe I do know. Stay with her. Get back to the caves if her breathing gets worse. I'll come back." He turned and quickly strode off.

"Boone!" yelled Michayla. Frustrated, she turned back to Shannon. "How're you doing?" she asked anxiously.

"Better," Shannon answered brightly, her breathing getting easier. She got to her feet. "I'm okay now. I'm lucky, I guess."

"Yeah," Michayla got to her feet too. "I know how bad asthma attacks can be. I have a friend who has asthma. How long have you had it?"

"Since I was really little," Shannon said. "I hated having to carry around that stupid inhaler . . . forgot it all the time too."

As Michayla laughed, they heard a rustling in the bushes and Boone stumbled out, his lip and forehead bleeding.

"Boone!" yelped Shannon. "What happened?"

"Sawyer attacked me for looking in his stuff for your inhalers," Boone explained as Shannon and Michayla pulled his arms around their shoulders.

"You idiot!" scorned Shannon. "You went through Sawyer's stuff and got caught?"

"Well, maybe you'd rather I not find your medicine, so when you have an attack, you won't be able to get through!" Boone snapped back.

"Hey, hey, hey," Michayla cut in. "It's nothing to argue about, come on, Boone, you need to see Jack!"

"No, I - " Shannon and Michayla cut Boone off as they pulled him through the jungle back to the caves.

---

"We need some help over here!" called Shannon as the two girls entered the caves, still supporting Boone.

Jack rushed over. "What happened?" he demanded upon seeing Boone's bloodied face.

Boone summed it up in one word. "Sawyer."

Jack guided Boone over and made him sit down. He began dabbing at his head with peroxide.

"He just attacked me..." mumbled Boone.

"Why?" Jack asked sharply.

Boone looked around furtively, and seeing no one but Michayla and Shannon around, muttered, "Shannon has asthma."

Jack glanced at Shannon, then back to Boone. "Never seen her have an attack before."

Boone proceeded to explain Shannon's lack of medicine and the reason he had been going through Sawyer's possessions. Bored with the proceedings, Michayla wandered over to her backpack and dug into it for her diary.

It wasn't there.

With a thrill of panic, Michayla rummaged deeper into it, throwing a few things out. Finally she came to the conclusion that the diary simply was not in her backpack.

"Boone?" she called. "Did you see a purple diary when you were looking through Sawyer's things?"

There was a pause. "I dunno," Boone replied, "but he's got a lot more stuff at the beach."

Michayla stood up and walked purposefully out of the caves. "I'll see you after I get my diary back!"

"Michayla!" Boone yelled. "He'll eat you alive!"

"Don't care!" she yelled back. All she wanted was her diary.

At the beach she sneaked over to Sawyer's tent and peered in. No Sawyer. Good. Michayla slipped inside quietly, holding her breath as if Sawyer was going to jump out at her at any moment to give her a face to match Boone's.

There were quite a few piles of things and a few bags sitting around the tent. Michayla dove for the nearest pile and rummaged through it, trying not to make a mess. Not finding it there, she threw herself at the next one and dug into it, finally finding her diary at the bottom. She flipped through the pages, as if trying to find some sign to tell her whether Sawyer had read it or not. Nothing was missing or torn, so she was thankful for that. Still, anger was overcoming her and she stomped out of the tent, almost running into Kate.

Kate furrowed her eyebrows. "What were you doing in there?"

Michayla held up her diary, seething. "He stole this from me," she said through gritted teeth. "Where is he?"

Kate looked at her. "I don't know," she replied. "I think he's in the jungle, but... "

Michayla turned and stalked into the trees. "Sawyer!" she yelled. She wove her way through the trees until she heard the sound of an axe. Running towards the sound, she found Sawyer chopping wood down. Michayla picked up a stick and threw it at him. It bounced off his back.

"Son of a - !" Sawyer turned around and saw Michayla. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"This look familiar?" She again held up her diary.

Sawyer raised his eyebrows and leaned against a tree. "I'll tell you one thing," he answered slowly. "It tells me you've been in my tent." He stared at her, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Ha! Like you didn't go through my stuff to find it!" Michayla snapped back.

"I found that lying on the ground at the caves!" growled Sawyer. "Maybe you should be more careful!"

"Maybe you shouldn't pick something up and assume it belongs to you!" Michayla retorted. "Ever hear of privacy?"

Sawyer shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't read it!"

"Says you!" Michayla spotted an envelope on the ground next to Sawyer's feet. Darting over, she snatched it up. "What's this?"

Sawyer's eyes narrowed even more. "Give that back," he said dangerously.

"No." Michayla twitched her eyebrows. "Maybe I'll take your stuff and see how you like it." She whirled around and proceeded to stride away. A moment later, she heard footsteps running after her. Michayla took off running, but Sawyer crashed into her and knocked her over onto the ground. They landed in a heap, Michayla pinned under Sawyer, both diary and envelope lying several feet away.

Michayla stretched out her arm, reaching for the diary and Sawyer's letter, but Sawyer seized her wrist and pulled her arm back, keeping her pinned down while he grabbed his mysterious envelope.

Sawyer scrambled to his feet as soon as he had what he was after and Michayla carefully stood up. Her arm ached and she rubbed it. She picked up her diary and turned angrily to face Sawyer.

"Now you listen a minute, will you?" Sawyer snarled. "I didn't read your damn book - like I give a rat's ass what you write about in there anyway! But if I were you, sweetheart, I'd stay the hell away from me! I find out you've been in my stuff again - if you even touch this envelope again - "

"What is it?" Michayla asked, immesely curious.

"Never mind!" Sawyer snapped. "Look, princess, you need to get it through your pretty little head that we're not in the real world anymore! And like it or not, this ain't high school, Barbie girl! The world does not revolve around you - and no one cares whatcha write about in your damn diary." He scowled, showing his disgust. "How 'bout you wake up a little?"

Michayla glared at him for a long moment. "Yeah - well - how about you go to hell?"

Sawyer actually laughed a little. "Maybe I'll see you there."

Michayla stormed back to the caves, passing Charlie on her way in as he walked out. "Hey!" He turned and grabbed her by the arm. "You look a bloody mess!"

Michayla looked down at herself. Dirt and grass covered her shirt and a long, muddy grass stain ran down her jeans. She probably had leaves and grass stuck in her hair as well. She supposed it had when she'd hit the ground and Sawyer had landed on top of her. "Oh," Michayla said lightly. "I got in a fight with the ground. And the ground won."

"Ha, ha." Charlie laughed a little. "Really, what happened?"

Michayla held up her diary. "Sawyer stole this. When I went to get it back, I made him a little more angry than I intended, and...this happened. Nothing _that_ bad!" she added hastily, seeing Charlie open his mouth in alarm. "No, he just knocked me down. No biggie."

"No biggie," Charlie repeated. "I'd hate to see your definition of a biggie then."

Michayla laughed. "I'm fine. I can take care of myself. So go back to what you were doing. Don't stick around here on my account."

"'Kay." He clapped a hand on her shoulder and exited the cave. Michayla sat down by the pond and opened her diary, grabbing a pen from her bag.

Dear Diary,

I. Hate. That. Man. Yes, I'm talking about Sawyer. He is pure evil, I'm telling you!

Today he beat up Boone for trying to get Shannon's asthma medicine back from him. Did he give him the medicine? NOOO.

Then he stole my diary! I went and got it back, and he claimed he didn't read it. I tried to steal this letter he's always reading (I wasn't really going to take it) and he frickin threw me to the ground and it actually frickin hurt. At least I got my diary back. Thank the Lord.

If I was the type of person to swear a lot, this page would now be filled with many obscene words not fit for the ears of children.

-Michayla

----

That evening Shannon was having trouble breathing again. Boone and Michayla knelt near her while Jack searched for medicine that might help her.

"Just try to breathe," Boone said to Shannon soothingly. "C'mon, Shannon, work with me!"

"Shannon, you're not having a real bad attack," Michayla said, trying to calm her down. "You can do it, come on, Shannon, deep breaths, big, deep breaths..."

Sawyer stalked into the cave, looking at the group huddled around Shannon. Michayla's eyes met his and he scowled at her. Obviously Michayla was still on his bad side. She glared back at him.

Jack made his way over to Sawyer. "Give me the inhalers. Now," he demanded.

"Wondered when you'd stop askin' nice." Sawyer smirked at him.

Jack lifted his fist and punched Sawyer full in the face.

Sawyer fell over, but then got back to his feet. He seemed almost amused. "It's about time, cowboy," he said nonchalantly. "Didn't think you had it in you."

Jack punched Sawyer again. This time Sawyer stayed on his knees, blood running from his lip. "Is that all you got?" he muttered.

----

"You know what sucks?" Michayla whispered to Charlie as she lay down on the ground, pulling her blanket over her.

"What?" Charlie whispered back, picking up a blanket.

"Tomorrow's my birthday."

----

_Flash! Michayla blinked as the flash went off unexpectedly._

_"Picture perfect," said Cam with a grin, setting his camera down on the table. "Some birthday party, huh?"_

_It was an unusually warm day for the first of October. Cam and Cassie had thrown Michayla a surprise party for her fifteenth birthday. It had been at Cam's house, but the weather was so nice that everyone was in the backyard, eating cake, playing games and just having fun. Michayla and Cam were sitting at the picnic table on the porch._

_Cassie ran up and turned a chair backward, sitting on it with her arms dangling over the back of it. "What're you two party poops doing just sitting here?" She placed a paper crown on Michayla's head. "For the birthday princess."_

_Michayla rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Thanks, Cassie."_

_"That's all you're getting for your birthday this year," Cassie told her. "You know I'm broke."_

_"Great! Best present I ever got!" Michayla replied sarcastically._

_"I'll top it next year." Cassie laughed. "I'm just kidding. I got you a real present - but you only get it if you wear the crown all day."_

_"Okay," laughed Michayla._

_"C'mon, let's go open your presents," said Cam, standing up and taking Michayla's hand. "Cass, you wanna get everyone inside?"_

_"Sure." Cassie had a very loud voice and she yelled for everyone to come inside so Michayla could open her gifts and cards._

_Once inside, Michayla sat down on the couch next to Cam, still wearing the lopsided paper crown._

_"Nice hat, Michayla," giggled Kayla, a friend of hers._

_"Thanks, Kayla. Courtesy of Cassie."_

_"Of course." Kayla rolled her eyes at Cassie's quirkiness._

_Cassie tossed a small, square package into her lap. "Open!"_

_Michayla undid the wrapping paper carefully. Inside was a Drive Shaft CD. She forced a smile. "Thanks, Cassie!"_

_Cassie laughed delightedly. "You don't even know what it is!"_

_"Sure I do. It's a Drive Shaft CD."_

_"Open the case!" Cassie bounced up and down in excitement._

_Michayla opened the CD case. Inside was the newest CD by the Fray - Michayla's favorite band. "Oh my gosh! Thanks!"_

_Cassie handed the real CD case over to Michayla. "I put it in the Drive Shaft case to freak you out. I know you hate them."_

_"Not hate, exactly...more like strongly dislike." Michayla replied with a smile._

_"Well, I'm glad you like it," Cassie said sincerely._

_"Yeah, thanks." She hugged Cassie happily._

----

Sunlight streamed into the cave, warming Michayla's face so she woke up. Maybe today they would be rescued, she reasoned with herself. Then she could celebrate her sweet sixteenth at home with her friends and family, instead of on this island. And then she wouldn't have to deal with Sawyer anymore.

Charlie walked into the caves. "Peanut butter!" he announced to the cave at large. No one heard him other than Michayla.

"What?" Michayla asked, confused. She sat up and kicked her blanket aside.

"For Claire," Charlie explained. "She's craving peanut butter...so I told her if I got her some peanut butter she had to come move to the caves with me."

Michayla shrugged. "I haven't seen so much as a peanut on this island. Talk to Jack or someone. I don't know where you'd find any."

Charlie looked frustrated. "I really want to do this for her, you know...?"

"You really like her, huh?" Michayla said, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Yeah. I want her to be safe...and we're safer here than at the beach..." Charlie didn't seem to care who he was talking to.

"That's right, Charlie, get it all out," Michayla encouraged. "Just vent, you'll feel better."

Charlie shut up. "Sorry," he apologized. "I just...never mind." He turned to walk back out of the caves and then turned back. "Hey, it's your birthday today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Michayla reminded him.

"Oh...happy birthday, then!" he called over his shoulder as he left.

Michayla rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked over to the pond and got a drink of water and picked up a banana for breakfast. Munching it, she flopped down on the side of the pool.

"Help, she's not breathing!" Boone's cry of worry roused Michayla from her reverie. Leaping to her feet, she dashed across the cave to where Shannon lay, clearly having a bad asthma attack.

"Shannon?" Michayla grabbed her hand. "She really needs help! Jack!" she cried. "She can't breathe!"

-----

_Eight-year old Michayla stood on the driveway for several minutes after the ambulance sped away with Cassie. "Daddy!" she yelled. Jackson came running._

_"What, sweetheart?" he asked, anxiously, crouching down to her level._

_"We have to go to the hospital. Cassie died," she told him very sadly, tears welling in her eyes._

_"Don't cry now, honey, Cassie didn't die. She had a very bad asthma attack."_

_"She died. I saw her," Michayla repeated._

_"Look, I'll take you to the hospital and you can see that Cassie didn't die, all right? Come on." Jackson took Michayla's hand and got her into the car. They drove down the road and to the hospital, Michayla still anxious._

_Jackson strode up to the receptionist at the hospital. "We're here to see Cassie Birmingham," he said._

_"Yes, she's just upstairs. Her parents are with her," the receptionist told them. Jackson thanked the woman and led Michayla up the stairs and into Cassie's room._

_Cassie lay on the bed, awake but breathing into an oxygen mask. Her parents sat on chairs near the bed. Cassie waved at Michayla as she walked in._

_"Hi, Cassie," Michayla said in a tiny voice._

_"Hi, Michayla," she said through the mask._

_"Are you okay?" asked Michayla in the same voice._

_Cassie nodded. "I am now. The doctor just said I can never, ever forget my inhaler again."_

_"And you won't, will you, Cassie?" Cassie's mother asked her, eyebrows raised._

_"No, Mommy. I promise."_

_"So you're all better?" Michayla asked again, just to clarify._

_"Yeah. Oh...happy birthday, Michayla. Sorry I forgot your present."_

----

Shannon's wheezes subsided as Jack helped her breathe. "That's good, Shannon. Breathe just like that." Jack stood up and turned to Boone and Michayla. "I want you two to stay with her," he ordered. "Make sure she keeps breathing."

"Where are you going?" asked Michayla, wondering why he wouldn't stay and make sure Shannon could breathe.

"I'm going to get her medicine." Jack turned and walked out of the cave.

"You're gonna be fine, Shannon," Boone said gently.

---

Michayla walked through the jungle, looking for Jack. Shannon had begun having trouble breathing again and she wanted to know if Sawyer had given Jack the inhalers yet. "Jack?" she called, walking on.

She finally spotted Sayid and Jack standing in the forest, next to a tree. "There you are!" she said, jogging over. "Did Sawyer - " Her words were cut off as she gasped and covered her mouth as her eyes took in the whole scene.

Sawyer was on his knees, tied to the tree. One side of his face was bloody. He glared up at Jack, Sayid and Michayla.

"Come to join the party, then?" Sawyer growled. "Great. That makes all my favorite people."

Sayid looked back at him coldly. "Please leave, Michayla."

Michayla's eyes were wide as she took her hands away from her mouth. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"The only thing that could get us Shannon's inhalers." Sayid knelt down next to him.

"Sayid, don't!" she cried, realizing what was going on; they were going to torture Sawyer, and as much as she hated him, she did not want him to be hurt for no reason.

"Michayla, get out of here," Jack ordered. "You don't have to see this."

Sawyer's lip curled into a sneer as he addressed Michayla. "But you love seeing me like this, though, doncha, Gingersnap? Don't pretend you don't."

Michayla shook her head. "Sawyer, if you just give them the inhalers, they wouldn't have to hurt you."

Sawyer continued to glare at them. "Oh yes, they would, princess. If you haven't noticed, everyone on the damn island hates me. Now why don't you get lost." He turned to Sayid. "You know what I think, Ali? I don't think you've ever tortured a man."

Sayid looked at him, his face expressionless. "Unfortunately for both of us...you're wrong."

"Michayla, go!" Jack said loudly.

Michayla turned and ran. After a few moments Sawyer's yells of pain followed her through the jungle. She clapped her hands over her ears to drown it out.

She made her way back to the caves, panting as she entered. Boone stood up from where he sat next to his sister, who was still coughing and struggling to breathe. "Did you find them? Did they get Shannon's inhalers?" he asked urgently.

Michayla shook her head. "They're trying to get Sawyer to give them up. He's not going to without a fight." She didn't want to tell him what was really going on.

Boone paced back and forth. "What kind of person would withhold a girl's medicine from her?" Boone snapped, taking out his frustration on Michayla. "Shannon could die and he doesn't care!"

Michayla held up her hands. "Boone, there's nothing I can do! I don't know why you're yelling at me!"

"Sorry!" Boone sounded slightly less angry, but his voice still had an edge to it. "I'm worried, okay?"

"I know, Boone. I don't think even Sawyer would let Shannon die." Michayla went over to Shannon. "Shannon? How are you doing?"

"Not..." Shannon wheezed and coughed, her eyes streaming. "... so good!" she managed to finish.

Michayla rubbed Shannon's back. "Hang on, Shannon!"

Boone and Michayla couldn't do anything but try to calm Shannon down again. After what seemed like hours Sayid returned, his shirt stained with blood.

Boone stood up. "Whose blood is that?" No answer. Sayid rummaged around for something. "Whose blood is that?" Boone asked more insistently.

Sayid turned around, shouldering Jack's bag. "Sawyer's."

Michayla's eyes widened. Boone's did too. "You attacked Sawyer and didn't tell me?" demanded Boone. He made to follow Sayid out of the cave.

"Boone!" called Shannon weakly. "Don't leave me." Boone returned to her side. Shannon coughed hoarsely.

Michayla turned to Boone. "You don't have one single inhaler left?"

"If we had an inhaler, Shannon would be fine right now!" yelled Boone.

"Well, excuse me for looking at all the options here!" retorted Michayla.

The two sat glaring at each other when Sun, the young Korean woman, appeared. She held a bowl of leaves and a sort of paste. Sun walked over to Shannon. She held a leaf up to Shannon's nose and motioned for Shannon to breathe. As Shannon smelled the leaf, Sun rubbed some of the paste on Shannon's neck and chest. Her wheezing subsided somewhat. Sun smiled and nodded.

"What is that?" Boone knelt beside Sun.

Sun spoke in Korean.

"Boone, she doesn't speak English," Michayla reminded him.

"Yeah...well, thanks!" Boone tried to make Sun understand. "Thank you. For helping my sister."

Sun seemed to understand the gist of what Boone said and smiled.

"Are you good here?" Michayla asked Boone, getting to her feet.

Boone nodded. "Yeah…I'm gonna stay with her, though. See you later."

"See ya." Michayla started walking across the cave.

"Hey, Michayla."

Michayla turned back to look at Boone.

He nodded his head. "Heard Charlie say it's your birthday today. Happy birthday."

Michayla smiled. "Well, thanks. Kind of wish I was home, but whatever."

Boone nodded again. "You're - what, sixteen?"

"Yeah."

Boone looked at her for a moment. "You don't seem sixteen."

"Really?" Michayla said in surprise. "Do I seem older or younger?"

He considered her. "Older."

Michayla shrugged. "Maybe that's what being in a plane crash does to people."

----

That evening Shannon had gotten over her asthma attack, thanks to Sun's eucalyptus paste. Michayla sat in the cave, scribbling in her diary when Claire approached her, Charlie behind her.

"Hey," Claire said.

"Oh, hey, Claire." Michayla closed her diary and set it aside.

Claire sat down next to her. "Charlie reminded me it's your birthday today...I thought you ought to get something. I don't know if you're into astrology at all, but..." Claire held out a piece of paper. "I made this for you. It's about your astrological sign, you're a Libra."

"Oh! Thanks!" Michayla unfolded the paper and read Claire's neat handwriting.

Michayla Swanson

Birthday: October 1, 1988

Sign: Libra

Element: Air

Ruler: Venus

Charge: Positive

Libras often strive for balance in their life. They are very social and charming. As a Libra, you probably have many friends and are perhaps even a little spoiled. You like to get your own way. As you are ruled by Venus, you seek love in everything you do. Libras love to be loved and want to be liked by everyone. With your date of birth, Michayla, Venus truly rules your life and you are artistic, caring, and loving. You are very creative, but sometimes have trouble believing things that are beyond logic. Many Librans become scientists and are great at arguments and debate.

Watch out for your "bad side," though. A sudden change can cause your emotions to swing from one extreme to the next - extreme sadness, anger, even happiness. Be careful not to jump to conclusions about people. Things are not always as they seem. Also watch out for vanity - a Libra trait that can get too extreme.

Happy Birthday, Michayla. I know it's no car - but it's the least I can do.

Michayla smiled as she folded the paper and tucked it into her diary. "Thanks, Claire! It really does kind of sound like me!"

"I thought so!" Claire said with a smile. "Astrology is more accurate than people think."

"I guess so!" Michayla looked at Claire. "It's really sweet of you to write this for me. I didn't expect anything at all - you didn't have to get me anything."

Charlie looked rather sheepish. "I didn't have anything to give you," he told her ruefully, kicking at the ground.

"That's okay!" Michayla laughed. "Really, it is! I didn't expect anyone t give me anything. Don't worry, Charlie. It's no disappointment."

"Good." Charlie smiled at her. "Happy birthday, Michayla. Good night."

"'Night." Charlie turned and walked across the cave. Claire stood up to follow him, waving at Michayla as she went.

----

_"How was the party?" asked Trish when Michayla walked in. "Oh, by the way - you've got a birthday card."_

_"Thanks." Michayla picked up the envelope. "The party was a lot of fun." She flipped the card over to read the return address. She furrowed her brow. "Grandma and Grandpa? Why are they sending me a birthday card? I haven't seen them since I was two."_

_Trish shrugged. "I guess they think they ought to get involved in their granddaughter's life." Trish put her hands on Michayla's shoulder. "It's okay if you want to contact them, but I warn you - they don't like Dad. Grandma especially is bad about it. That's why we haven't spoken in twelve years. They will want you against him."_

_Michayla shook her head. "That'll never happen. I love Dad, and he knows it._


	9. The Golf Course

**A/N Chapter Nine, hooray! I got this one done pretty fast, but it's not as good, I don't think, because there wasn't as much to work with in this episode...not much happened to anyone besides Sayid in Solitary. Anyway...more humor and fun stuff in this one than anything else. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.**

**Chapter Nine:****  
Solitary **

**or**

**The Golf Course**

Michayla was walking in the jungle by herself. Two days had passed since her birthday and Sayid had set off to explore the island. Bruises from the crash had faded, and been replaced by bruises on her back and left leg from her encounter with Sawyer, whom she had been avoiding for the past two days. Michayla was over the trauma of the crash, and now realized that a weird mix of boredom, fear, and worry was setting in. There was the fear of what was out there on the island, worry about what would happen if they were not rescued soon, and boredom because there was nothing to do. Michayla wrote in her diary day in and day out, played her flute, chatted with Charlie and Claire, with Shannon and Boone, but nothing could keep her occupied for long. Finally that morning Michayla had become way too sick of having nothing to do, and gone off to do some exploring of her own.

The jungle was really very pretty and interesting to look at. Birds flew overhead, squawking loudly, and occasionally Michayla saw a monkey jump from tree to tree. What a weird place this was, she thought. How could an island exist and never be discovered? It was unnerving to think that the survivors of the Flight 815 crash were the first humans to set foot here.

Wandering through the jungle a little further, Michayla came into a small clearing which concealed a waterfall and a small pond. Michayla grinned at the sight and glanced around her. She was alone...so there was no harm in going for a swim, right? She pulled off her tank top and shorts and dove in in her sports bra and underwear. The water was surprisingly cool for such a warm day. Michayla surfaced, pushing her hair out of her face. She was a good swimmer - not good enough to have made her school's swim team, but good enough to tread water and swim in circles in the pond.

She went underwater again, then resurfaced, spraying water everywhere when she shook it out of her soaked hair. She swam to the middle of the pond and treaded water, smiling broadly. For the first time since the crash, she was really having fun.

Something caught her eye from several feet below her. Peering into the murky depths more closely, she realized what she was seeing.

Two bodies, ghostly and pale, still strapped to their airplane seats.

Michayla let out a shriek that sent birds fluttering into the sky and kicked her feet hard so as to get away from the bodies. She treaded water closer to the side of the rock wall, listening to the waterfall crash down. Her heart pounded and she felt a little jumpy from the shock.

Michayla's head jerked around when she saw someone enter the clearing out of the corner of her eye. She relaxed, seeing only Boone. "What're you doing?" she called over the sound of the waterfall.

"I was looking for you, we noticed you had been gone awhile," he shouted back. "What the hell were you thinking? Screaming like that - I thought something bad happened!"

"I was swimming here and spotted some bodies under the water. It scared me." She eyed Boone grumpily. "How come you came out here?"

"Well, Charlie realized you'd been gone for at least an hour, and no one had seen you," Boone explained, sitting down. "We thought we ought to look around and make sure you were okay."

"I was perfectly fine!" Michayla said snappishly, lifting her head indignantly. Her legs were getting tired of treading water for so long. "Turn around or something, would you? I'm getting out." Boone stood and turned his back as Michayla waded to shore and pulled on shirt and shorts over wet skin.

"Why'd you decide to come out here on your own?" Boone asked, turning back around.

Michayla shrugged. "I was bored. There's nothing to do on this freaking island." She glared at him. "You didn't have to come after me. I can take care of myself."

Boone snorted. "You sound like Shannon."

"Well, your sister and I have a few things in common," Michayla replied, leading the way out of the clearing. "I'm heading back. You can come or stay, I don't particularly care." Michayla was still irritated by the fact that they had thought she needed looking after.

"I'm going back." Boone followed her out of the clearing.

"Fine by me," she replied coolly.

"Hey - there's no need to be so pissed about it - we were just worried!"

"Who's we?"

"Well, me, Charlie, Kate, and Jack were sort of wondering where you'd got to." Boone was trying to keep up with Michayla, who was keeping herself a few paces ahead.

Michayla huffed. "I am perfectly capable of looking after myself, you know, even though I am barely sixteen."

"Okay! I get it!" Boone said, now sounding a little irritated. "Sorry."

"You're forgiven," Michayla answered rather primly, but giving him a small smile and allowing him to catch up with her.

"So." Boone seemed to search for a topic to fill the silence. "How the hell did you get _bored_? I mean, scared, nervous, angry...that I can understand..but bored?"

Michayla shrugged. "It wasn't hard. There's nothing to do. Hence, I went exploring."

"Well, maybe you should have told someone where you were going!"

"Maybe," Michayla replied indifferently. She decided to change the subject. Michayla cast her mind around and it landed on Boone's encounter with Sawyer. "How's your face?" she asked, none too politely. She was getting annoyed again.

Boone shot her a look. "It's fine," he answered shortly. "What did Sawyer do to you when you went after your diary?"

"Who said he did anything?" Michayla said, keeping her voice light.

"You've been going out of your way to avoid him for two days, Michayla," Boone replied with a small laugh. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared of him..."

Michayla stopped and turned to face Boone. "I'm not scared," she said sharply. "I just don't feel like getting beat up. I'm not _stupid_ enough to get in his way." This was, of course, a subtle jibe at Boone, who was really getting on Michayla's nerves.

Boone took the hint. "You know what? You can get back to the caves on your own!" he snapped, turned to walk off in another direction.

"Fine, I will!" Michayla yelled at Boone's retreating back. "Don't get lost on your way!" She turned and walked the rest of the way to the caves alone, her head held high.

Michayla walked into the caves and picked up a bottle of water, sipping it. She went over to Jack and Michael, who were poring over a drawing Michael had done. "Whatcha doing?" she asked curiously.

"Trying to figure out how to rig up a shower in here," Michael answered, running his finger along a line in the drawing. "If we channel the water along here - "

"Hey, Jack!" Charlie walked into the cave and came over to them. "Hurley's all worked up over something, said we should come see it."

"Is everything okay?" Jack asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I think so, but he wants us to get out there." Charlie turned to lead the three of them out of the caves.

----

Charlie had led them up the hill to a long stretch of open grass. Hurley stood next to a flag stuck into the ground. "Welcome to the first, and hopefully last, Island Open!" he announced.

"The what?" Michayla asked with a laugh.

"Two holes, three par, no waiting!" Hurley said proudly.

"Hurley, you built a golf course?" Jack said incredulously.

"With all the stuff we've got to deal with, you've been wasting your time on this?" Michael added skeptically.

"I think it's a good idea, personally," Michayla offered.

"That's the spirit!" Hurley gave her a high five. "Dudes, our live suck! We're stuck on an island, running from monsters and freakin' polar bears - we've got to have some way to relax and just have fun!"

"I'm in!" Michayla said instantly.

"So am I!" Charlie chimed in.

Hurley grinned at them, then turned back to Michael and Jack. "You guys want a go?"

Jack's face broke into a hesitant smile. "Yeah, all right."

----

"You're up, Michayla." Michael handed her a golf club.

"I suck at this game, I'm warning you," Michayla muttered to Michael and Jack.

"Just give it a try," Jack said encouragingly.

Michayla grinned. "All right." She looked across the course at Hurley and Charlie. "Hey, heads up over there!"

"No way, Michayla! You won't give anywhere near us!" Charlie shouted. He and Hurley waved their golf clubs over their heads and swiveled their hips in a victory dance.

Michayla lifted her chin in mock defiance. "Yeah, yeah, that's hot, guys, real attractive," she said sarcastically. "Just wait til I beat you both!" She swung the club and hit the golf ball straight up into the air. It came down and landed barely two feet away from where it had started.

Charlie and Hurley thought this was hilarious. "Brilliant, Michayla!" yelled Charlie, howling with laughter. "Great job, you sure showed us!"

"Oh, shut up!" Michayla sat back down to let Jack take his turn, folding her arms across her chest in mock anger.

"Which club should I use?" Jack whispered to Michael.

"I dunno." Michael looked serious. "This is a problem, man...I mean, I know what I'd do, but it's got to be your call."

Jack sighed. "Okay," he said resolutely. "Give me the seven iron."

Jack prepared to swing the club, but someone's voice interrupted him. "Jack! There you are!" A man Michayla knew from the caves jogged up to them. "It's this rash I've got, it's starting to spread, it's like the size of a grape - hey, what are you doing? Are you playing golf?"

Jack looked a little sheepish. "Well...yeah."

The man grinned. "Can I play?"

Jack laughed. "Sure."

Michayla stood up. "Can I go tell some more people about the golf course?" she asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"I don't care," Jack said, preparing to take his shot. "We won't move your ball."

Michayla ran off the course and down through the jungle, heading for the beach. The first person she saw was Boone. "Hey - hey, guess what, Boone!" she called, jogging up to him.

"What now?" Boone asked irritably, raising his eyebrows.

Michayla remembered their argument. "Oh...listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gotten so mad."

Boone shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Shannon does it all the time - only she doesn't apologize."

Michayla laughed. "We're cool, then?" She held out her hand.

"We're cool." Boone grasped her hand briefly, then dropped it. "So, what did you want?"

"Oh yeah!" Michayla's excitement returned. "Hurley built a golf course! Over by the caves, you've got to come see, it's fun!"

"Are you kidding?" Boone stared at her. "Who's playing?"

"Jack, Michael, Hurley, Charlie, me, and that Sullivan guy from the caves," Michayla listed.

Boone laughed. "Seriously? That's awesome! Come on, we should tell Shannon!" He turned and strode toward Shannon, who was sitting on the beach reading a magazine.

"You are never going to believe this!" Boone announced as they reached her.

"You finally learned how to tie your own shoes?" she answered, sounding bored and turning a page of her magazine.

"Ha, ha," Boone replied. "No. One of the guys at the caves built a golf course."

Shannon looked up. "Are you high?"

"No! Michayla says Jack's out there playing right now!" Boone said.

"Jack is playing golf?" Kate came up to them, looking incredulous.

"Yeah," Michayla told her. "And I think he's pretty good, actually"  
"I'm going to go check it out," Boone said to Shannon.

"Me, too," Michayla added. "It's probably my turn again. No way is Charlie going to beat me." She started off the beach with Boone.

"Hey, wait for me, bonehead!" Shannon stood up and dashed after them.

Back on the golf course, Jack was taking another turn. A large group of people had accumulated to watch. Jack hit the ball and it stopped inches away from the hole.

"Dude. That's great. You might get it in next turn," Hurley commented, picking up a club and whacking at his ball. The club missed it entirely. "Aw...do over!"

"How come you laugh at me when my ball barely moves, yet when Hurley completely misses it, you don't laugh at him?" Michayla demanded of Charlie.

Charlie chose to ignore her question. "It's a mulligan, mate, mulligan. It's a gentleman's sport, get the words right." Charlie raised his eyebrows at Michayla and grinned.

"Sexist," she muttered. "I'm going to get a woman's team together. Right, Kate?"

"Sure," Kate laughed. "I'll bet we could beat Jack and Charlie."

"Definitely," Michayla agreed.

"Dad!" Walt ran up. "How come you left me alone?"

"I left you with Claire," countered Michael.

"She's asleep," Walt said flatly.

"Oh...hey, I'm sorry, man." Michael looked apologetic.

"Hey, Michael, you're up!" Charlie told him.

"Okay, cool!" Michael stepped up to his ball. "We'll play later, okay, Walt?"

Walt, looking annoyed, stepped back.

Michael hit his ball. It, too, missed the hole. "Aw, dang!"

"That's my turn, then!" Michayla grabbed a club and prepared to swing.

"Everyone duck!" Charlie interjected. Boone laughed from where he was watching in the crowd.

"Oh, shut up, both of you!" Michayla pretended to hit Charlie on the head with her club. Still laughing, he ducked out of her way.

"Stupid sexist British guy..." Michayla muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

"Is that supposed to be an insult, because it's not..."

"Be quiet! I'm concentrating!" Michayla tapped her ball lightly with the club, not wanting to hit it too far. It rolled an inch or two, then stopped.

"You need to take some lessons, mate," Charlie told her, pretending to be serious. Michayla knew he was still teasing.

"Yeah? We'll see how much better you do!" Michayla walked past him huffily, turning to watch him. "Pressure's on!"

Charlie could easily sink the ball with this shot. He crouched down so his eye was level with the ball, figuring out how best to line up his shot with the hole. "I've never made par on a course before..."

"And what does that tell us?" Michayla shot at him.

"Guys, please..." Charlie stood and carefully set up his shot. He hit the ball and it rolled straight...past the hole

Michayla let out a peal of laughter. "What now, Charlie, huh? Not so great now, are you?"

"You know what?" Charlie switched his club into his left hand and strode over to her. "You wanna go? I could take you on, right here, right now!"

"Bring it on, Charlie, anytime!" Michayla raised her fist playfully. "You've got no chance!"

"Hey, shut up, you two!" Shannon called over to them. "I'm watching this game!"

Jack was preparing to take his shot. "You sink this, you get to wear the blazer," Michael reminded him.

"So no pressure!" Kate added with a laugh.

"Five bucks says he sinks it!" Hurley called out.

"You're betting against me now?" Charlie was offended.

Hurley shrugged. "Sorry, dude."

"Make it ten and you're on!" Boone countered Hurley.

"I've got two tubes of sunscreen and a flashlight says he chokes!" Everyone turned to stare at the new arrival. Sawyer stood on the course, slightly apart from everyone.

Kate raised her hand slightly. "I'll take that action." Jack shot her a brief look.

"Yeah, so will I!" Boone called to him.

"You just bet on Jack, idiot!" Shannon said in the scornful tone she seemed to reserve for Boone.

"Hey, we need the sunscreen!" Boone reminded her.

Jack took his swing. The ball rolled toward the hole and straight into it. A cheer erupted from the crowd. Boone sullenly handed Hurley ten dollars. Michayla laughed at the expression on his face.

"That's it for me," she said, turning to head back to the caves. "I'm done with golf for today."

"Yeah, me too." Hurley followed her. The crowd, still laughing and talking, dispersed.

----

Michayla sat in the caves recording the day's events in her diary. It had definitely the most fun day she'd had since they crashed. As she wrote, someone sat down next to her. It took her a moment to realize it was Ethan. "Hi," she said in surprise.

"Hi there," Ethan replied with a nod. "Any more dreams lately?"

Michayla couldn't remember her nighttime chat with Ethan, having been half-asleep throughout it. "Huh?" she asked intelligently. After a minute she remembered waking up those few nights ago and talking to Ethan. "Oh, yeah. The other night I had it again, but I didn't get up in the middle of the night or anything. Why?"

Ethan shrugged. "I just wondered. It's interesting, isn't it, that you've had this dream more than once since you crashed here, but never before?"

"It's just stress from the crash, I think, along with other stuff going on in my life." Michayla shrugged. "Why do you even care?"

"Oh, no particular reason," he said lightly. "I'm just interested in things like this. Would you mind telling me what your dream is about?"

"Um, no offense or anything, but yes." Michayla blinked at him. "I don't really know you. I haven't told anyone about my dream. Not to seem rude or anything, but I don't see why I should tell you, of all people."

Ethan sighed. "All right. Well, it was worth a try on my part." He stood up and left, leaving Michayla bewildered and uncertain.

**A/N Reviews are much appreciated, they help a lot! **


	10. The Capture

**A/N Yay! Finally a new chapter! Sorry it's taken so long; I've had a ton of stuff going on - Christmas, school - then my computer deleted what I had done of this chapter so I had to start over. Grr. I hope you like this chapter - it's the one where the plot really gets going!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Lost, Charlie would still be alive. So I obviously do not own it.**

**Chapter Ten:  
Raised by Another or The Capture**

"AAAAHHH!" Michayla was jolted awake by the sound of Claire's scream. She was standing in the middle of the cave, screaming and sobbing hysterically, fighting to get away from Charlie, who was desperately trying to calm her down. "Claire! Claire it was only a dream!" Charlie repeated over and over. Claire stopped fighting, but let out great gasping sobs. Michayla jogged over.

"Is she okay?" she whispered to Charlie.

Charlie wasn't listening. He held Claire's hands in his and stared at them in horror. They were covered in blood. "Claire - what happened?" he whispered.

-

Claire, it seemed, had dug her nails so hard into her palm she had broken the skin. She had refused to talk about it to anyone. All she said when Michayla asked her was, "It was just a dream." After that she quickly changed the subject Charlie approached Michayla later that morning. "Michayla, will you come help me do something?"

Michayla raised an eyebrow. "Depends on what."

Charlie sighed. "All right. I want to cheer Claire up, so I thought I'd bring her some tea, right? Only the only person who might possibly have teacups on this island - "

"Is Sawyer," Michayla finished. "Charlie, I'm sorry, but if I go anywhere near that guy again, I'm dead. What makes you think he'd give them to me?"

"You've gotten stuff from him before!" Charlie countered, grabbing her arm as she made to turn away. "Come on. It's for Claire. Just look at her." He motioned across the cave. Claire, looking rather lonely and worried, was leaving, clutching her diary and a pen.

Michayla turned back to him with a small smile. "All right, come on!" She led the way out of the caves. "It's been awhile since Sawyer and I had a chat. Should be fun, huh?"

They made it too the beach and approached Sawyer, who was sitting outside his tent, wearing sunglasses and reading a magazine. Michayla coughed to get his attention.

His expression darkened as he took off the sunglasses to look at Michayla and Charlie. "And what do you two want?"

"Teacups. Do you have any?" Michayla asked, keeping her voice polite.

"The hell d'you need teacups for?" Sawyer demanded.

"They're for Claire," Charlie explained. "Blonde, Australian, pregnant...heard of her?"

"I heard of her, Chuckie. But look at that - she ain't here!" He went back to his magazine. "Why don't you toddle off and bug someone else."

"That's your cue," Charlie muttered to Michayla, smiling slightly. "Go for it."

Michayla knelt beside Sawyer and put on her best puppy-dog face. "Sawyer. Please? It's for Claire. How can you say no to an expectant mother?"

Sawyer turned to her and laughed. "Just the face ain't gonna work on me, baby girl. Now if there's somethin' you're willin' trade for it..." Sawyer eyed her suggestively.

Michayla narrowed her eyes. "You pig!"

"Hey, don't get your panties in a twist, sweetheart, you're lucky I'm even talkin' to you about it! I should by rights be haulin' your ass down the beach and throwin' you in the ocean! Then I'd be doin' everyone a favor." He turned a page of his magazine pointedly. Michayla slapped a hand over the pages.

"Give us the teacups. Now," Michayla ordered in a hard voice.

"No more Miss Nice Guy, huh?" He shoved her hand off his magazine and read for a moment. Then, with a irritable sigh, he threw down the magazine and went into the tent. "Don't need teacups anyway..." he muttered.

"Just keep telling yourself that, Sawyer!" Michayla said cheerfully. He emerged, glaring, and handed two teacups to Charlie. "Clear off now," he muttered. "Next time you come here askin' for somethin', sweetcheeks, either you get nothin' or you're tradin', whether you like it or not. That's if you get anything at all. I'm givin' you nothin' next time!" he growled at Michayla.

Michayla smiled sweetly. "Thank you very much, Sawyer."

With a crooked smile, he went back to his magazine, shaking his head. Charlie and Michayla walked off, Charlie clutching the teacups.

"That was brilliant!" laughed Charlie.

Michayla shrugged. "I didn't really do anything. Now I know all I have to do is stop being 'Miss Nice Guy' with Sawyer, huh? Though I'm hoping to never have to ask him for anything again."

"I hope you don't either," Charlie replied. "Did you _see_ the way he looked at you?"

Michayla laughed. "I can take care off myself, thanks, Charlie."

"Right. I'm going to go find Claire, okay, so I'll see you later." He smiled and turned to walk off.

"Yeah, see ya!" Michayla turned and walked into the jungle to had back to the caves. As she walked, she heard footsteps in the jungle ahead of her. "Who's there?" she called curiously.

Out of the bushes came Boone. Michayla rolled her eyes. "Where've you been?" Boone asked.

"Why do you care?" Michayla shot back. Boone looked at her. Michayla sighed and continued, "I was at the beach, if you must know. I wish you'd stop acting like you're my dad or something."

Boone spread out his arms in innocence. "I'm not trying to act like your dad. Look, I was just at the caves and I didn't see you so I wondered where you were!"

"Whatever," Michayla grumbled.

"So, were you by yourself or what?" Boone asked.

"No, I was with Charlie." Michayla yanked on the bottom of her shirt so it completely covered her stomach.

"With Charlie?" Boone repeated. "What were you two doing?"

Michayla couldn't help herself. "Each other," she replied lightly.

Bone stared at her, obviously unsure if she was lying or not. Michayla burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding!" she laughed. "I'm sorry, Boone, but you really set yourself up for that!" She started walking again, brushing against him lightly. "I couldn't resist."

Boone jogged up to walk beside her. "What did you say that for?"

Michayla looked up at him. "I already said. You set yourself up for it...and you deserved it for getting in my business." She blinked at him. "Didn't think you'd get so bent about it."

"I'm not," he grumbled. They walked in silence for several minutes. Michayla felt Boone's eyes on her again. "What?" she asked, turning to him. "Is there something in my teeth? What's the deal?"

"Nothing, I was just - never mind." Boone shook his head and looked away.

"Never mind what?" Michayla asked, curious.

"I said forget it!" Boone snapped.

Michayla recoiled slightly. "Geez," she said softly. "Mood swings much?"

Boone snorted. "Oh look, there's the caves. I'm actually going to go back to the beach. See you around." Boone turned without waiting for her to say goodbye. "What was the point of even looking for me, then?" Michayla yelled after him. Whirling around, she heaved a loud frustrated sigh and stomped into the caves.

"Everything all right?" asked Locke as he passed by with the guy Ethan who was his new hunting partner.

Michayla shrugged. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because you just made a noise that indicates everything is not okay," Locke pointed out logically.

Michayla's lips turned up in a half-smile. "I'm fine. If you want Boone to go hunting with you, he went that way." She pointed in the direction Boone had gone.

Locke raised his eyebrows at her. "Okay. I'll see if I can find him. Come on, Ethan." The two men walked off. Michayla went into the caves to find them fairly empty. She assumed everyone was spending the day at the beach or out in the jungle. She grabbed her diary and flipped it open.

**Dear Diary,  
Just had a couple interesting encounters, one with Sawyer and one with Boone. I may not be so hated by Sawyer anymore, but for God's sake, I can't talk to Boone without one of us pissing the other off. I don't even know what I did today, but he suddenly decided to storm off. Loser. Wait, that isn't nice. He means well. I guess. I dunno what his deal is**

**.  
Feeling pretty bad for Claire at the moment, she seems pretty lonely and she had a nightmare last night. She woke up screaming. I hope Charlie can cheer her up. It must really suck to be on an island and eight months pregnant. And I thought the rest of us had it bad.**

**I'm still not giving up hope on rescue. What's going to happen if we don't get rescued? How am I going to graduate with my class if we don't get off this rock? That may sound, I dunno, a petty concern, but for a high school student, it's kind of a big deal.**

**-Michayla**

-

Another hysterical scream woke Michayla from her sleep that night. "Claire?" she cried, springing up. "Claire?"

"He had this thing, like - like an needle!" Claire was sobbing hysterically, talking to Jack and Michael and showing them her stomach. "And I woke up and - and - he was trying to hurt my baby!" She took several deep, gulping breaths. "He was trying to hurt my baby!" she repeated more calmly.

Jack stood up. "Charlie," he called. Charlie hurried over to Claire's side. "Stay with her. We're going to check out the area, see if anyone's around - see if anyone knows anything."

"Is she okay?" Charlie asked anxiously. "She'll be fine," Jack assured him. "Just keep an eye on her. Don't let her panic again." Charlie nodded. "Michayla," Jack said, turning to her. "I want you to go around the caves, talk to everyone who's awake. See if they saw anything."

"Okay." Michayla turned and went up to the first person she saw - Ethan. "Ethan," she whispered, "Claire just got attacked. Did you see anything? Anyone running away as she started screaming?"

Ethan shook his head, looking concerned. "No," he said. "No, I didn't see anything. I just woke up and the poor girl was screaming her head off... I hope she's okay."

"I think she's fine," Michayla told him. "Thanks," she added as she turned to walk off.

-

"So, what's your full name again?" Hurley asked Michayla as she threw her things into her backpack the next day.

"Michayla Jane Swanson," Michayla told him. "Otherwise known as Chayla, or sometimes my friend calls me M.J. - like in Spiderman, you know? Sawyer calls me Gingersnap, princess, and pretty much any insulting name you can think of...do you want the whole list?"

"No, that's all right," Hurley replied with a laugh. "Okay, so Michayla Jane Swanson, age: 16, reason for travel: visiting grandparents, residence at home: near L.A., residence on island: caves. Is that right?"

"That's it." Michayla straightened up. "What's this for again?"

Hurley shrugged. "After what happened to Claire last night, I figured it might be a good idea to find out who everyone is. Make sure no one suspicious is around. Want to come down to the beach and help me get everyone's names down there?"

"Sure." Michayla and Hurley walked down the path that was beginning to be worn from the caves to the beach.

"Name, Shannon Rutherford. Age, twenty. Address, Craphole Island." Shannon seemed to be in a very bad mood as she and Boone walked down the beach with Michayla and Hurley. "What do you wanna know this for, anyway?"

"Well...Claire? The pregnant girl, you know her? Last night she kinda got...attacked," Hurley told Shannon and Boone uncertainly.

"What?" Shannon threw down her bag and looked at Boone accusingly. "Okay, I am so not moving to the rape caves!"

"Is everyone over at the caves all right?" Boone asked Hurley and Michayla. "No one got hurt?"

"Yeah, everyone's fine," Michayla assured him. "It was just Claire...she woke up screaming about someone trying to hurt her baby."  
"Anyone know who did it?" Boone wanted to know.

"If we did, we wouldn't be worrying about this now, would we?" Michayla responded, raising an eyebrow.

Boone turned back to Hurley. "Hey, you don't need to bother with questioning everybody. Just look at the flight manifest - it has a list of all the passengers. Just get everyone's name and check if they're on the manifest."

"Dude, that's a good idea!" Hurley exclaimed. "Where's the manifest? Who has it?"

Boone rolled his eyes. "Who do you think?"

"Sawyer." Michayla groaned. "Hurley, I can't help you there. He's not going to give you a thing if I'm with you. He hates me."

"Since when?" Hurley asked. "Charlie said you were pretty good at getting stuff off him."

"Charlie doesn't know what he's talking about," Michayla retorted. "If I ask him for anything again, he's going to kill me. Or something."

"If Sawyer has the damn thing, there's no way you're going to get it," Shannon pointed out. "Why don't you just forget the manifest and go on with your census."

Hurley paused. "I've got an idea to get it from him. Nobody come with me, just let me get it myself." Hurley started off for Sawyer's tent. Shannon slung her bags onto her shoulders and appealed to Boone. "You gonna help me with this crap or what?"

Boone looked at her. "No," he replied simply. "You don't have anything better to do. You never help anyone else with anything - why should I help you?"

Shannon gave him a brief look, her eyes hurt and sad. But then the emotion was gone. "Fine," she answered quietly, and went off, carrying her bags alone.

Michayla glared at Boone. "What did you yell at her for?" she demanded.  
Boone seemed taken aback. "I - I just - she's my sister. Siblings fight."

"She seemed pretty hurt," Michayla shot back instantly, arms folded across her pale blue tank top.

Boone shook his head. "She's fine. We fight all the time." He changed the subject. "What are you doing now? Want to hang out here at the beach?"

Michayla looked at him. "No," she replied simply. "I'll see you around, okay?" She turned on her heel and strode off into the jungle.  
After walking for a few minutes, two voices reached her ears, talking urgently. Turning towards them, she found herself approching Charlie and Claire from behind.

"Okay okay okay. I can kick drugs I can deliver a baby - " There was a brief silence. "Let me explain. I'm a drug addict. I was a drug addict - I'm clean now!" Charlie seemed quite agitated.

"Get Jack!" Claire yelled, pointing.

At this point Michayla had reached them. "Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Michayla!" Charlie turned to her, seeming immensely relieved. "Claire is having contractions - I need you to run as fast as you can to the caves and get Jack, all right? Can you do that?"

"Well, of course I can! Hang on, Claire, okay, I'll be right back with Jack!" Michayla started running through the jungle, barely paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly she ran smack into Ethan, causing them both to fall to the ground and Ethan to drop the wood he was carrying.

"Whoops!" Ethan said with a laugh, standing up and gathering his wood. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"It's Claire!" Michayla gasped, scrambling to her feet. "She - "

"Claire." Ethan suddenly seemed very interested. "Is she okay?"

"I think so, but she's having contractions! Charlie's with her! He sent me to get Jack!" She said all this very quickly.

"No, no, no," Ethan said. "I'll get Jack. You go back to Claire. She might need another woman there to help if - "

"What?" Michayla was confused.

Ethan dropped what he was saying. "Just go back! No time to argue - you stay with them, I'll get Jack!"

Michayla nodded, still thinking that he was behaving oddly, but raced back to Charlie and Claire, who were sitting on the ground, talking. They looked up as Michayla returned. "Where's Jack?" Charlie asked.

"I ran into Ethan - you know him?" Michayla explained, sitting down. "He told me to come back here and stay with you two, and he'd get Jack."

"Why?" Claire asked, furrowing her brow.

"I dunno - I didn't want to waste time arguing about it. He mumbled something like you should have another woman present - what up with that? Like I know anything about delivering a baby?" Michayla laughed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay. I actually - " Claire slowly got to her feet. "Charlie, I think I'm all right."

"Are you sure?" Charlie went to her side. "Jack said something about stress causing false labor - "

"Yes, I think I'm okay!" Claire laughed with relief.

"See?" Charlie grinned. "I told you I'd take care of you."

Claire smiled back. "Thanks, Charlie."

"You're quite welcome," Charlie replied, still grinning. "Think you can make it back to the caves?"

"Yeah, I should be fine," Claire assured him.  
"Good. You coming, Michayla?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, that's where I was headed." The three people started off to the caves.

They had not gone far when Claire suddenly paused. "Are you okay?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"He's kicking. Here, feel." She took Charlie's hand and placed it on her stomach. "Feel that?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, smiling.

Michayla was not paying attention. Someone was walking towards them. "Hello?" she called.

Ethan emerged from the bushes. He stood staring at them, not saying a word.

"Where's Jack?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

There was no reply. Ethan's eyes flicked from Michayla to Claire and remained fixed on her. Charlie put an arm around her protectively.

"Where's Jack?" he repeated, louder this time.

"I think all three of you had better come with me," Ethan said slowly and calmly.

"Why would we want to do that?" Charlie asked coolly.

"You've got some things I want, so to speak." His lips twitched, forming a brief smile.

"Who are you?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"It's not important, Charlie. What is important right now is how well you and your friends can cooperate with me." Ethan's eyes bored, unmoving, into them.

"I think we'd all like a little more information!" Claire said loudly, her voice shaking.

"Calm down, Claire, please. I don't want things to be any more unpleasant than they have to be. Come with me right now."

Charlie grabbed Michayla's upper arm and yanked her closer to him. "Michayla, listen carefully. Are you listening? Nod or shake slowly."

Michayla nodded slowly.

"Okay. In a moment, I am going to push you hard away from me. Be ready to run as fast as you can to the caves and let Jack and the others know what's going on. If we're lucky, I'll follow soon with Claire."

"And if we're not lucky?" Michayla hissed back.

"Charlie and Michayla," Ethan said harshly. "Stop talking right now and start walking!"  
"No!" Charlie glared at him. "I'm not letting you take us anywhere!" "Then I will have to take you by - "

Suddenly Charlie pushed Michayla hard in the center of her back. She fell to the ground but scrambled to her feet just as quickly and began running faster than she had ever run before.

"Stop!" yelled Ethan. She did not look back, but seconds later something - a rock, perhaps - had smashed into the back of her head. Everything went black.

**A/N (dances) Oooh! Cliffhanger! What will happen next? Will Michayla escape and warn the camp? Will she be left hanging by her neck from a tree? Does Ethan want her specifically for something? All will be revealed...someday. Please review!**


	11. The Tree

**A/N Woot, new chapter! Sorry it's so short - it's kind of a filler. The next chapter will be longer - I promise.**

**Chapter Eleven:  
All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues**

**or**

**The Tree**

Michayla blearily opened her eyes. Then she blinked again in confusion, her head pounding. She was hanging over someone's shoulders, being carried through the jungle. After a moment, she realized it was Charlie. Tilting her head upward, she could see the back of another man, then Claire walking some distance in front of them. "Charlie," she hissed. He jumped, then relaxed when he realized who had spoken.

"Don't move. Don't let him know you're awake. He'll separate us." Charlie continued facing forward.

"Where's Ethan?" Michayla whispered. "What happened?"

"He's behind us. He has a gun."

"He _what_? How - "

"After he knocked you out, Ethan picked you up and started walking," Charlie interrupted, continuing steadily onward. "He told us to follow, or he'd kill you. We didn't know if he was bluffing, but we didn't want to gamble with your life at the stakes, so we went. Before we had gone far, that man in front of us came out of the bushes. Ethan called him Danny. Danny had the guns. Ethan took one, and made me carry you, while Danny tied Claire's hands and walked between us. That's why he can't know you're awake - he'd separate us." Charlie shifted his grip on Michayla. "I need you to try and hold onto me - I've got and idea to let Jack and Locke know which way we've gone." He was working on pulling something off his finger. Once he'd removed it, he showed it to Michayla - the bandage with the letter "L" on it that Charlie had worn since the crash. He let it fall to the ground.

"Like Lord of the Rings," Michayla said quietly.

"What?" Charlie seemed confused.

"In the second one," Michayla explained, "Pippin showed Aragorn he and Merry were still alive by dropping his elven brooch"  
Michayla could hear the smile on Charlie's voice. "Well, John Locke is our very own Aragorn, so I'm hoping he'll be able to find us." For several more minutes they walked, Charlie strategically placing his tape pieces along their trail. Michayla grew stiff from being carried on Charlie's shoulders, but Charlie still didn't want Ethan and Danny to know she had regained consciousness. "I don't want you to have to walk," he said. "You've been banged on the head today - you could have a concussion."

"I've had a concussion before, Charlie. I could still walk then," she pointed out. "Of course...that was after going to the hospital and all but still..."

"No," Charlie told her. "You stay up there."

With a twinge of annoyance that felt out of place with their situation, she resigned herself to the fact that she would be hanging over Charlie's shoulders for God-knows-how-long. She kept her mind off things by fantasizing about who was coming after them. Jack and Locke would definitely be on their way - possibly right behind them. She entertained herself by imagining Jack or Locke beating Ethan to a bloody pulp. God, it was so weird to imagine - earlier that day all she had been worried about was getting a flight manifest from Sawyer and Boone's treatment of Shannon. A sudden thought hit her. Boone had asked her to stay at the beach. If she had stayed - she would not be here right now. She would be back at the camp, worried about Charlie and Claire, but safe. At least at camp she would be able to do something, rather than hang here, helpless. The next step was entirely up to Ethan. At the moment - Michayla had no control over which way her path was leading.

_What a time to turn philosophical,_ she thought wryly. Oh well. If she was going to die today, what better time to become a philosopher? _Maybe when I get out of this I'll live in a hut on my own and people can come to me for wisdom._

"Stop walking, now." Ethan's voice sounded hard and cold from behind them. Michayla quickly shut her eyes as the man in front of them turned and strode over.

"Is she still not awake?" demanded the man - Danny, Michayla remembered.

"No," Charlie answered, firm in his lie.

Danny grabbed hold of Michayla's arm and she fell to the ground. Her eyes sprang open and she looked around, pretending to just have regained consciousness. They were in a small clearing, next to a tall tree. Danny stood over her, a strong looking man with a permanent glare etched on his face. Ethan made his way up to them. "Where's Tom?" he demanded of Danny.

"He'll be here," Danny growled back. "Then you've got some explaining to do, Ethan."

"Don't worry. I will explain everything. In the meantime, help me tie their hands and gag Claire and Michayla." Danny pulled Michayla roughly to her feet and pulled her over to stand by Claire. She struggled and fought against the ropes he tied around her hands and the gag he forced into her mouth. Beside her, Claire received the same treatment. She let out one last scream before the gag was tied around her mouth. Charlie was being held by Ethan, his arms pinned behind his back but otherwise unbound. Charlie, too, was fighting to get away from Ethan.

"Leave her alone, you bloody _git_!" Charlie yelled.

"Charlie, if you shout at us again, I will have to gag you," Ethan said calmly. "I do not have any intention of harming your friends."

What about _him_? Michayla longed to retort, but was unable to, thanks to the gag in her mouth.

Moments passed, and it began to rain. The rain poured down on the terrified trio and their captors, another man emerged from the bushes. He was older than Danny and Ethan, with a long gray beard. _Santa's evil twin_, Michayla thought grimly.

"Good, you're here, Tom." Ethan shoved Charlie towards him. "You two watch the ladies and this young man. I need to shake off our pursuers."

"Pursuers?" the bearded man demanded. "Ethan, you've made a mess of things, we're not leaving here until you explain what the hell you think you're doing!"

"Plans had to be changed," Ethan said tensely. "I'll tell you everything. I'll just be a few minutes." He disappeared into the rain.

The clearing was quiet except for the sound of the pouring rain. It drenched everyone there, plastering Michayla's clothes to her skin and making her hair hang in long wet strands around her face. She couldn't move her hands enough to brush the water out of her eyes. Claire was looking around, turning her head in either direction, as if she did not believe what was going on. Danny was still standing over Michayla and Claire, holding the gun, and Tom had Charlie pinned facedown on the ground, arms behind his back. Charlie was struggling faintly, but all three were utterly helpless.

Michayla edged closer to Claire. "Claire!" she attempted to whisper through the gag.

Danny noticed. "Hey!" he shouted. "Stop trying to talk, girlie!" He kicked her in the leg.

"Danny!" Tom said warningly. "Don't hurt them. Ethan may have a perfectly good reason for changing the plan." Michayla and Claire could do nothing more than exchange terrified looks.

As the rain was letting up, Ethan returned. "All right," he said. "I should have bought us some time. They wouldn't risk the death of one of their people."

"In that case, before we go anywhere, you tell us what's going on, Ethan!" Danny ordered harshly.

Ethan looked as if he were about to argue, then thought better of it. "Okay," he gave in. "Let's tie them to the tree. We'll need to gag Charlie as well; we don't want them talking."

The three prisoners were bound to the tree, side by side but unable to speak. While Charlie and Claire communicated through comforting gestures and expressions, Michayla did her best to eavesdrop on the three men. She could only hear snatches of the conversation.

"All right, Ethan. What's this about? You were supposed to -" (Michayla could not hear what Tom said,) " - and stay in the camp until the baby was born!"

"I told you, things had to change!" Ethan repeated. "They knew I was not on the plane!"

"How could they possibly know that?" Danny wanted to know.

"Ben didn't think of the flight manifest, did he, when he sent - " The cawing of a bird overrode Ethan's words. Michayla strained her ears more.

"All right, they knew you weren't on the plane. Now what about the other two - why did you bring them?"

"I had to act fast. Charlie was with Claire in the jungle - and as for the girl - " Ethan lowered his voice even more so Michayla had to lean over, straining at the ropes to hear what he said next. "There's something about her. I didn't have time to communicate with Ben about it, and she was also with them. So I brought her along too." Michayla heard Ethan get to his feet. "We're running out of time. Tom, I want you to give this injection to Claire - just in her arm. It's a sedative to put her to sleep. Take her back, and Danny and I will deal with the other two."

"You're not giving the kid a sedative?" Tom sounded surprised.

"I don't want to risk compromising anything with her. We have to go now, before they pick up our trail again. I won't have held them off for long."

What happened next happened so fast Michayla couldn't do anything to stop it. Tom approached the tree with a needle and injected it into Claire's arm. Within moments, her head lolled over and she was asleep. Tom untied her and pulled the gag out of her mouth, picking her up. Charlie was making muffled noises from behind his gag that Michayla could only assume were words wishing Tom and Ethan only the worst. "Shut up," Danny snapped as he walked past Charlie. Ethan untied Charlie and pulled him to his feet.

"Charlie, I am going to make you one last request," Ethan told him. "If you go back to your camp and tell no one what happened - I will not have to hurt you."

"Where are you taking Claire?" Charlie demanded coldly. "Why do you want Michayla? I won't go back without both of them!"

Ethan shrugged. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Charlie. You're a good person. I wish I did not have to hurt you. Is that your final decision?"

"If they don't go back, neither do I." Charlie folded his arms resolutely.

Ethan sighed. "All right. Danny," he turned. "Take Michayla and tie her to the other tree. We need room."

It happened in a blur. Danny pulling Michayla across the clearing and tying her by the wrist to a smaller tree - Ethan tying a blindfold around Charlie's eyes - forcing a noose around his neck - pulling Charlie into the tree and tying the rope to a limb high of the ground - Michayla could remember screaming "NO!" just before they let Charlie fall. She closed her eyes and tried to shut out the sound of Charlie gasping and gagging for breath. It could have been a few moments or several years, but suddenly the sound stopped. Michayla opened her eyes and slowly lifted her gaze to the tree. And there he hung, by his neck like someone executed in the 1700s - hanging limp and lifeless from a tree.

Michayla felt Ethan untying her wrist from the tree and removing her gag. "Get a hood for her, Danny," he ordered.

"If you think I'm just going to come quietly - !" Michayla yelled, furious with grief and fear.

"I don't want to drug you, Michayla." His still-calm demeanor even more infuriated her and she wanted to rush at him and grab him by the neck and shake him and - but she didn't. Her hands were again tied behind her back and Danny pulled a rough woolen hood over her head, which was bowed in grief. She stared at the dark interior of the hood as Ethan guided her like a blind girl though the jungle, struggling with all her might not to let her tears fall.

**A/N Hope you enjoyed! Please review - reviews make life interesting. And you wouldn't want my life to get boring, now would you? ;-)**


	12. The Imprisonment

**A/N I am sooo sorry about the long wait! But to reward anyone who's still reading and it happy to discover that I'm not dead or something, here's the longest chapter ever! This chapter was paticularly difficult, hence the fact that it took me forever to finish. It covers the span of time that Michayla and Claire are imprisoned by the Others. Hope you still enjoy, and please review! Tell me what you think, what you like or don't like!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Lost, Charlie would sill be alive. From this we can conclude that sadly, Lost is not owned by me. How unfortunate.**

**Chapter Twelve**

**"Whatever the Case May Be" - "Special"**

**or**

**The Imprisonment**

_Michayla ran down the basketball court. Her friend Kayla had the ball, but one of the members of the opposing team was blocking her. Michayla waved her arms to show Kayla she was open. Kayla tossed the ball over the head of the girl blocking her, aimed too high, and the ball came down on the top of Michayla's head. She stumbled, over-balanced, and tripped, smacking her already aching head on the hard gym floor._

_"M.J!" Kayla shrieked, obviously forgetting the game. "I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to hit you!"_

_Michayla's vision was fuzzy, but she could hear people running onto the gym and girls moving out of the way. Her coach took Michayla's face in her hands. "Come on, Swanson, look at me, kiddo..."_

_Michayla tried to focus on her coach, but blackness clouded her vision and she fell unconscious._

Michayla shook her head blearily. Her head still ached, making her feel a little disoriented. "Wh - what?" She slowly sat up. She was in a small room with white tile floor and blue walls, sitting on a cot. There was a TV on one wall, which Michayla thought was very odd. She was not tied up or handcuffed, so she automatically went over and tried the door. Locked. Michayla slid down to the floor against the wall. She hadn't really expected it to be open, but it was worth a try.

What happened? The last thing she remembered from last night was Ethan guiding her down some sort of ladder or staircase, down what seemed to be a hallway, then into what she supposed was this room. But she couldn't remember her hood being removed - was she drugged?

The door creaked, and Michayla jumped to her feet as it opened. Ethan stepped inside, giving her a small smile. He was carrying a wooden chair, and he set it on the floor and sat down. Michayla glared at him and backed up several paces.

"Good morning, Michayla," Ethan said lightly.

"What do you want?" she asked rudely.

"Just to talk," he told her, spreading out his hands innocently. "You can ask questions, but I won't guarantee I'll answer." She looked at him suspiciously for a moment.

"Am I drugged?" she blurted.

"No."

"Why don't I remember what happened after we got here last night, then?" Michayla demanded.

"You just fell asleep," Ethan explained. "Don't worry. I promise we aren't going to drug you."

"Where's Claire?" Michayla pressed on, wanting to make him answer all her questions.

"I can't answer that."

"Is _she_ drugged?"

Ethan seemed to be deciding if it was all right to tell her. "Yes," he answered finally.

"What do you want with her?"

"Don't worry about it. She's going to be fine," Ethan said calmly.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm supposed to believe that!" she snapped. "You killed Charlie!" She turned her back on him, biting her lip to keep from letting out a sob.

"I regret it."

"No, you don't!" Michayla shouted. "You don't care!" She took a moment to compose herself, then turned back around. "What do you want with me, then?"

"Well, that's an interesting question, Michayla." He scooted his chair closer to her. "Sit down," he added, pointing at the bed.

She stared at him for a moment, decided it couldn't hurt, then cautiously sat, trying to make him know she was sitting because she wanted to and not because he told her to.

"Tell me about this dream of yours." Ethan leaned forward, an interested glint in his eye.

"What dream?" Michayla snapped, playing dumb.

"The one that made you wake up in the middle of the night several days ago." Ethan didn't miss a beat.

"Why do you even care about my dream?" she demanded. "What, you're my psychologist or whatever, I get to sit on the cot and talk about my dreams? I don't think so!"

Ethan sighed. "I hoped you would be more cooperative than this..."

"Of course you did. News flash, Ethan, if you hang a girl's friend right in front of her, she most likely not going to _cooperate_!" yelled Michayla.

"If you don't cooperate, Michayla, things are going to be a lot worse for you..."

"Ooh. I'm scared now. What, going to hang me by my neck from a tree as well?" she snapped.

Ethan stared at her. "No."

Michayla averted her gaze, boring a hole into the wall with her eyes. "Where's Claire?" she barked at him. "I'm not cooperating at all until I see her."

Ethan sighed, walked over, and turned on the TV. He turned on the walkie-talkie on his belt and said into it, "Tom, get us the video feed from Claire's room." He stepped back, and in a few moments, a video of Claire appeared on the screen. She was sitting in a rocking chair, smiling absently and crocheting something with blue yarn. "This is live, Michayla. See? She's fine." He put the walkie-talkie back to his mouth. "Cut the transmission." The screen went black and Ethan turned it off.

"Hey!" snapped Michayla, getting to her feet. "What the hell's wrong with her?"

"I told you she's drugged," Ethan snapped back. "We needed her to believe we're the good guys. Please sit back down."

"Maybe I don't want to." She folded her arms across her chest and twitched her eyebrows at him.

Ethan walked over, put a hand on her shoulder and pressed down, forcing her to sit before she fell. "There." He turned for the door. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be back in a couple minutes."

"Can't wait!" she said sarcastically after him.

Ethan was back within minutes pushing a complicated-looking machine. It was about four feet high, made of metal with dials and knobs in a line all over it, except for a small screen, which was currently blank. A strange helmet sat on top of it, connected by a wire to the machine.

"What's that?" Michayla couldn't control her curiosity.

"This," Ethan set the machine up underneath the TV, "is how we're going to find out about this dream of yours without you saying a word."

"Yeah, okay," Michayla mumbled sarcastically.

Ethan ignored this. "I'm going to put this helmet on your head," Ethan held up said helmet, "and hook up all this up to project on the TV. The screen here," he indicated the monitor on the machine, "monitors your heart rate and brain waves."

Michayla, continuing her resolution to do nothing Ethan said, clapped her arms over her head to keep him from putting the helmet on it.

"Michayla, I wish you would just let me do this to cause as little discomfort as possible."

"You wish." Her voice was muffled by her arms.

"I really don't want to have to use these." Ethan held up a pair of handcuffs, looking apologetic.

Michayla looked up at him briefly. "Yeah, uh huh. Just try it."

With surprising speed, Ethan grabbed one of her wrists, and cuffed it to the bedpost. "Just _sit_ there, okay? I promise this isn't going to hurt."

"That's what the doctors say before they stick a needle in you," she mumbled, swatting at Ethan as he attempted to put the helmet on her head. Finally he succeeded, and fastened the strap under her chin.

"It looks stupid, take it off," she snapped.

Ethan laughed. "See? We can joke." He switched on a dial on his complicated machinery, and it whirred to life.

Curiosity overcame Michayla again, and she asked, "So what is this thing? Where did it come from?"

"This, Michayla," he touched the machine lightly, "is a device for seeing into the human mind, and it's the only one in the world. We believe it was built way back in the 70s... but this is the first time we've actually used it...so I'm not entirely sure it works...we'll see." Ethan leaned over in his chair, putting his hand on his chin and staring at the TV screen. It was fuzzy for a minute, then an image filled the screen. It was blurry, so Ethan fiddled with a couple dials on the machine until it came into sharper focus. The image of the TV screen showed Ethan sitting in his chair, watching the screen. Michayla lowered her head so she was looking at her knees. The screen followed her gaze.

Ethan looked at her. "Is this what you're seeing?" he demanded.

Michayla was as surprised as he was, but didn't show it. "Obviously," she answered snidely.

Ethan gave a small huff, then turned back to the machine and continued messing with the dials. "I need to get the subconscious up here...dreams..."

As he turned the knobs, images raced unbidden across Michayla's mind's eye and were projected onto the TV. It was like rewinding her memory...flashes of Ethan, of Charlie hanging from the tree, of Claire screaming in the night, of swimming in the pond by the waterfall and Boone finding her...She clapped her hands over her eyes. Her head was throbbing. "Stop it! That hurts!" she yelped.

"Sorry." The flashes stopped. "I've got it set on the mode I need. Open your eyes or I can't see anything." Reluctantly she did. She had the strange sensation of being able to see both Ethan and a dream she'd recently had at the same time.

She rolled her eyes. "That's not the dream you want." The image on the screen was of eating a candy bar with her friends at the grocery store. "That's a stupid nonsense dream I had the other night."

"I surmised as much." Ethan turned the dial farther back. The beginning of Michayla's nightmare filled the screen. "Is this it?"

Michayla shuddered and turned away from the screen, resigned to reliving the dream once again. "Yes," she whispered. She flinched involuntarily as her dream played on the screen like a movie Ethan was watching.

When it was over, the screen went fuzzy again. Ethan turned to her, looking politely interested. "You said this seems like things that had happened in your life?" he asked.

"I was half asleep that time I talked to you," Michayla said through clenched teeth. "I didn't know what I was talking about."

"There must have been some basis as to why you said that, though," Ethan countered.

She sighed. "Okay. My dad turned into Charlie in the dream, yeah? My dad used to be a drug addict - Charlie was a drug addict. Whoop de tap-dancing do." She sat back against the wall. "Oh yeah. And I've heard Claire scream like that a couple times. When she woke up from her nightmare and when you captured us in the jungle." At this Michayla gave him the meanest glare she could muster.

"But you had this dream before you heard her scream," Ethan mused. "Interesting...now, what about the part with Boone and Shannon?"

Michayla huffed. "What of it? It's just a dr - " She cut herself off. Another image was coming into focus on both the screen and her mind's eye...

_Claire was sitting in the room she'd seen on the monitor earlier, eating from a bowl of soup. She still had the absent, slightly happy but uncertain look about her..._

Ethan stared at the screen in astonishment. Michayla was utterly confused. She had never seen Claire like this - it wasn't a memory, nor was it a dream. Ethan slowly raised the walkie talkie and again said into it, "Video feed from the camera in Claire's room." He leaned over and turned the machine off as the video came on. The video was the same as the one that Michayla had seen in her head. "The same," breathed Ethan in wonder. "Thanks, Tom. That's enough," he added into the walkie.

Michayla looked at Ethan, completely bemused. "What's going on?"

"I don't know." He crossed to her, removed the helmet, and unlocked the handcuff. "I trust you to stay in here if I look the door." Ethan smiled slightly, but looked very distracted. "I need to think about this...I'll be back tonight or tomorrow, Michayla. Someone will be in with food soon." With that, he wheeled the machine out and closed the door. It locked with a click.

Michayla sat on the edge of her bed, still too stunned to even have reacted to anything Ethan said. Seeing things she hadn't seen before, that were going on at the moment she saw them...it was too confusing to even think about. Michayla sat there for at least fifteen minutes in her state of shock, looking up only when she heard the doorknob turn and the door creak open.

A tall girl with wavy, dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail slipped in through the door. She seemed nervous, her dark eyes flitting around the room as she shut the door quietly. "Hi," she whispered.

Michayla tilted her head and looked at her. "Who are you? What do you want?" She said it roughly, but not altogether unkindly. The girl looked about her age...it had been ages since she'd talked to someone under the age of twenty.

"My name is Alexandra Linus." Her lips twitched into a small smile. "You can call me Alex." Alex sat down in Ethan's vacated chair and looked at Michayla very seriously. "I know you're probably scared...I know you're probably really confused, from what Ethan's been talking about since he came out of here...it's probably a lot to ask for you to trust me, but at least believe this: I am going to do everything I can to help you."

Michayla looked at Alex. "What about my friend? Claire?" she asked urgently.

"Her, too. She's in this building as well. She'll be fine...at least until her baby's born..." Alex looked worried for a moment. "But I want to get you out of here before then."

"When? Where are we? How do we get out?" Michayla's voice rose in her anxiety.

"Shh!" Alex's eyes darted to the door. "I'm not supposed to be here - things wouldn't be very good if they knew."

"How did you get here, then?" Michayla asked.

Alex shook her head a little. "I'm good at sneaking around." She shifted the chair so she was facing Michayla better. "I don't know exactly when we can get out, and I can't tell you where we are - that would get me into more trouble than I'm already in - but I think we'll wait until night, when the only people we have to deal with are the guards. It could be in two days, it could be in a week. I do promise that it'll be as soon as I can manage." Alex smiled.

"The opportune moment," Michayla agreed with a smile back.

Alex nodded. "Yeah." She checked her watch, then stood suddenly. "I've got to go - sorry - someone's coming any second! I'll be back soon - I'll come and talk to you as much as possible. Don't worry, Michayla - we're going to get you out of here!" And as quickly as she'd come in, Alex was gone.

Moments later the door opened again and a man carrying a tray walked in. Without a word, he set it down, then left.

"Nice to see you, too!" Michayla called sarcastically after him. She stood and picked up the silver tray. On it was a bowl of some sort of beef stew and a glass of water. Michayla sat back down, setting the tray next to her. Suspiciously, she poked at the stew with a fork. Deciding not to risk anything, she left the stew alone. She lifted the glass of water to her lips and after a moment's hesitation, cautiously sipped at it. Unable to taste anything odd, she drank the rest of the water, but put the tray with the stew back on the floor.

Michayla flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She didn't know what to think. She didn't trust Ethan one bit - if she was honest with herself, she would admit he kind of scared her. She knew what he was capable of...

An image of Charlie hanging from the tree flashed unbidden into her mind and she shuddered. Don't think about that, she told herself sternly. it'll only make things worse.

Alex...she didn't know. The girl had seemed honest enough..but what evidence was that? Ethan had seemed like a nice person before he'd kidnapped her and Claire, so "seeming honest" wasn't necessarily enough anymore. After all, Alex was One of Them. Who "They" were, Michayla had yet to find out. There were too many secrets here for her liking...

And so a routine was established. Every day Ethan came into Michayla's room to question her extensively. Most questions Michayla refused to answer. Ethan seemed quite perturbed by what Michayla had seen on the first day, but never tried to explain anything to Michayla. After Ethan left, Alex would slip in for as long as she could to give Michayla updates on what Ethan had been saying to the rest of Them. Once Alex had left (usually in quite a hurry) someone would come in to bring Michayla food. She usually had two meals a day, one in the morning and one t night. She was eating now, since Alex had assured her that Ethan wasn't drugging her food. The food wasn't great, but it was nice to eat something other than fruit and boar, as much as she hated to admit it.

About the fifth day she had been there Ethan brought his mind-reading machine into the room with him.

"Shaking things up today, are we?" Michayla asked indifferently, sitting up. "What's that for?"

"We're gonna try this again...see what happens," muttered Ethan, turning the dial on the machine; Michayla heard it whirr as it came on. "Come here." Ethan held up the helmet.

"I'll put it on myself, thank you!" she snapped, snatching it out of Ethan's hands. She put the heavy helmet on her head and strapped it under her chin. She tried not to show how curious she was to see what would happen this time.

"Michayla, I'm going to ask you about your dream again," Ethan told her as the image of Michayla's line of site flickered onto the TV screen.

"Are you? That's a subject we haven't talked about," Michayla pointed out, still keeping her voice light and indifferent. It was true, though; for the past few days Ethan had been giving her an endless stream of questions about her past and medical history.

"Tell me about the part we didn't get to talk about before - about Boone and Shannon, and the part about Sawyer and the gun." Ethan leaned back on the chair and looked at her expectantly.

Michayla sighed. "I don't know any more than what you saw." Ethan was flicking the dials on the machine again. "Boone and Shannon were all covered with blood and asking for help. Sawyer pointed the gun at me and fired it, only it was him that got blood on his shoulder, not me." Ethan wasn't looking at her; he was still messing with the machine.

"Okay," Ethan finally said. "Can you think of any reason you might have seen this?" He looked over at her.

"No, I told you everything I know about it, which isn't much!" Michayla snapped hotly.

There was a silence while Michayla glared at Ethan, his eyes narrowed back at her. Then once again an image Michayla had never seen before filled the screen.

_"You and Locke have been leaving before dawn and coming back after dark for the past four days," Shannon was saying to Boone. The two of them were on the beach, Shannon with a magazine in her lap, Boone standing in front of her holding a water bottle. "What are you doing out there?" She looked up at him, her face completely straight. "Is he your new boyfriend?"_

Under other circumstances Michayla would have laughed out loud...but this was too strange to even contemplate.

_Boone now knelt in the sand next to Shannon. "We're looking for Michayla and Claire." He did not meet Shannon's eyes._

_"I thought there was no trail, that no one even knew where to look," Shannon countered him._

_This seemed to annoy Boone greatly. "At least I'm doing something! Look around, everyone here thinks we're a joke, but you're the one just sitting here doing nothing." He stood up and turned to go. "You're useless." Ethan and Michayla briefly saw Shannon's expression contort with hurt, then the image faded from the screen._

Michayla didn't know what to make of it. She seemed to be divided into three parts. The first was overwhelmingly happy to hear that Locke and Boone were still looking for her and Claire; the second part of her was extremely annoyed with Boone for going off on his sister again; the third and largest part was screaming that this was not normal, something weird was going on, why was this happening, this had to stop!

Ethan turned the machine off. They sat in silence for several minutes; Michayla took the helmet off. Finally Ethan asked, "Did anything happen to you and Claire, that would have made him have to look for you, before - ?"

"Before you kidnapped us, you mean?" Michayla spat. "Wouldn't you have known if something had happened to us? You were there, in our camp." She was deliberately not giving him a direct answer.

"Please just answer the question." Ethan looked tired.

"No." Michayla gave him a hard stare - it was both the answer to his question, and a refusal to answer. She would leave it to him to figure that out.

Ethan was silent again for a moment. "You are...seeing things...that are happening as you see them...only you're not there..." Ethan trailed off.

"What a brilliant deduction," Michayla commented sarcastically. "You're a real rocket scientist. Honestly, it took you four days to figure that out? I've only known that since forever." She rolled her eyes.

"How did you know, and why didn't you tell me?" Ethan demanded.

"First answer, because it's not like I have anything else to do in here other than think about what the hell is going on, second answer - because I didn't want to. After interrogating me for days, haven't you figured out I - don't - want - to - tell - you - anything?" She emphasized the last seven words of her sentence.

"Fine." Ethan stood up. "I'll be back tomorrow after I think about this." He started for the door, then turned back. "Oh, by the way - he was lying." He watched her face carefully.

Michayla was quite confused. "Who was lying?" she asked, furrowing her brow in bemusement.

"Your friend. Boone." He gestured at the screen. "He isn't looking for you."

"And how would you know that?" Michayla asked calmly.

"Because if they were looking," he said slowly and carefully, "they would have found you by now." He watched her for another moment. "I'll see you tomorrow." Ethan turned and walked out the door.

Michayla threw herself backward onto the bed, glaring at the ceiling. She couldn't wait for Alex to get here...she had something to ask her.

After about fifteen minutes there was a light knock on the door, then the rattling of it being unlocked, and Alex slipped in. "Hi." She gave Michayla a small smile.

"Alex!" She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "I've got a question for you!"

"What is it?" Alex sat down in the chair, crossing her long legs at the ankles.

"How easy would it be to find this place from where my people are camped?" Michayla asked outright - no beating around the bush.

Alex looked surprised, but didn't show it in her voice. "Well..." Alex appeared to be thinking. She rolled her eyes up at the ceiling and blew air out the side of her mouth. "I think it would all depend, how hard you were looking, how good of a tracker you were, how much you wanted to find it..."

"The people I'm thinking of - well, one of them's a really good tracker, and I'm sure the other person would really want to find this place..." Michayla trailed off. "Could it take them more than four days?" she asked seriously.

"It could, maybe...it's hard for me to imagine, since I don't know _exactly_ where your camp is, and I've never had to search for this place without knowing where it is...why are you asking me this, Michayla?" Alex asked after a moment.

"Well...you know about what's going on with me, what Ethan's seen me...see?" Alex nodded, and Michayla continued, "Today I saw, in my head, a friend of mine back on the beach talking to his sister. He said he and another one of us were going out every day to try and find Claire and me. Then after the vision - or - whatever - ended, Ethan said he must have been lying. He said if they were really looking for us, they would have found us by now. I just don't want to think they've given up hope for me and Claire," she finished lamely.

Alex looked thoughtful. "Ethan can't know that your friend was lying. He may have been, but Ethan's probably just trying to wear you down because there's no way for him to know for sure. Ethan's getting frustrated with you, actually," Alex said with a laugh. Michayla laughed too.

"Guess my work here is done," Michayla commented, grinning. Alex grinned back broadly.

There were a few moments of silence in the little room. "Hey, Alex...how's Claire?" Michayla asked suddenly, the thought having just occurred to her.

Alex's happy smile vanished. "I can't get in to see her," she said apologetically. "There's always someone down that hallway...I'm almost positive that she's _physically_ all right. She's...still drugged up, from what I understand," she finished sadly.

Michayla gave a short nod to show she understood. She hated to think of Claire drugged and being held prisoner...by people that, by Michayla's understanding, Claire thought were good. Claire probably didn't even know what was really happening to her, Michayla concluded unhappily. Michayla didn't know what Claire was going through either - even Alex didn't know for certain, though she had told Michayla she suspected that they were administering medicine to the baby, and were planning to take the child after he was born.

After a long, tense silence in which both girls were thinking of the problems they were facing, Alex finally spoke. "I'd better go, Michayla," she said, standing.

"'Kay. Bye, Alex." Michayla was back to staring at the ceiling.

Alex gave her a smile and a wave, then opened the door just enough for her to check that no one was coming, and slid out.

Michayla thought they were starting to become friends.

After a few minutes her usual tray of food was delivered. Today she had a chicken salad sandwich, an apple, and a glass of water. Also sitting on her tray was a book. Michayla picked it up - it was a copy of _Lord of the Flies. _There was a note inside it, so she pulled it out to read.

_You said you were bored - here's something to do. Enjoy._

_-Ethan_

"Is this supposed to tell me something?" she bellowed at the closed door. "Giving me this particular book? 'Cause if it is, I don't get it..."

She ate her sandwich, then sat back on the bed, munching on the apple. She studied the cover of the book. In her English class, her teacher had talked about having them read _Lord of the Flies _later in the year, but she had left before they'd begun. After finishing the apple, she placed the core back on the tray and put the tray next to the door. Someone would come it take it shortly. Then she laid on the bed and began reading.

The book was not a very pleasant read, nor did it lift her spirits any. From what she could tell, it was about a group of little boys who crashed on an island, then eventually started a war with each other. Michayla wondered if Ethan was trying to say that this would eventually happen to the survivors back on the beach. She realized she'd never actually asked Ethan or Alex how long they intended to keep her here. Alex, she decided, would give a more truthful answer, but it likely that her answer would also be uncertain. Michayla still didn't know who Alex was, or what she was doing. They had never really talked about themselves in the few days they'd known each other.

In irritation Michayla finally tossed the book aside. She had found she disliked it so much she would rather return to staring at the ceiling and thinking about the weird visions she was having and wondering when, exactly, Alex was planning on getting her and Claire out of here.

_Michayla slowly opened her eyes. She was in a spotless room, laying on a bed with clean white sheets. Her mother and father, along with Kayla, Cassie, and what looked like the entire girls' basketball team around her, still wearing their jerseys. "Where - ?" Michayla was groggy._

_"We're at the hospital," Trish answered quickly. "You had a concussion - not a bad one, but they wanted to keep an eye on you for awhile."_

_"How'd that happen?" Michayla asked confusedly._

_Kayla gave a small sob. Trish placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and explained, "Kayla threw the ball during the game, and it hit you on the head. Then you tripped, and your head hit the floor. It was not Kayla's fault," she added firmly, seeing Kayla open her mouth again._

_Michayla sat up slowly. "I remember being in the ambulance." Everyone stared at her._

_"Michayla, you've been unconscious this entire time," Jackson told her gently._

_"But I was in the ambulance. Coach was there...and so were you and Mom," she protested._

_Trish and Jackson shared a concerned glance. "Why don't you get some more rest," Trish said, pulling the blankets up around her. "Lay down now, we'll let you sleep. Come on, girls, Michayla's going to be fine now..." Michayla heard her mother herding the team out of the room, before sinking back into sleep._

"What do you want from me?" Michayla was laying on her back a few days later, staring at the now-quite-familiar ceiling. Ethan was sitting in the chair, watching her.

"Michayla, just think about this power you have!" he said earnestly.

"What _power_?" Michayla demanded. "I've been here, what, nine days now? You can't possibly believe this is a power! I have no control over it! I don't want it to happen! What is so special about it?" Three more times had Michayla had a vision, and only once had it happened when Ethan wasn't using the machine. The first two times were just images of Claire - nothing very interesting. From what Michayla could tell, she spent a lot of time crocheting. The third had been when she had been alone in her room, and wanted to try it without the assistance of the machine she had grown to loathe. She had screwed up her eyes and thought hard about the survivors on the other side of the island and after a long period of concentration, she was rewarded with a quick glimpse of Shannon talking to Sayid. She hadn't heard what they were saying, and the image had quickly faded.

"We could learn how to harness this power!" Ethan now said excitedly. His eyes were bright, and he looked more excited than Michayla had ever seen him. "Think of the things we could do with this if we learned how to use it - how to distribute it - why, there would be no more need for security cameras anymore, for example." He looked at Michayla, smiling.

Michayla did not smile back. "You want to use me," she stated flatly.

Ethan looked uncomfortable. "I wouldn't have put it that way, but in a way...yes." His smile disappeared; he looked disappointed.

Michayla couldn't help laughing. "I don't want to be used, Ethan. I thought that would have been clear by now." She sincerely hoped Alex would hurry up with her plans to get her out, because she did not want to stay much longer now that Ethan would surely be angry.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Michayla," Ethan suddenly said, standing and opening the door.

"Good bye, Ethan," Michayla answered in mock politeness.

Michayla waited the usual amount of time for Alex to appear, and like clockwork, she came in fifteen minutes after Ethan left.

"Hey, Michayla." Alex smiled.

"Hey, Alex." She sat up. "I hate to bug you...but exactly when were you planning on breaking me and Claire out of here?"

"Give me three more days." Alex took her seat in the wooden chair.

"Three days? Why so much time?" Michayla demanded.

"It's only three more days!" Alex protested. "And it's because Claire may be... well... less than willing to come." She looked apologetic.

"I guess I can deal." Michayla laid back on the bed. "How're things?" she asked Alex out of the blue.

"What things?" Alex looked confused.

"I dunno...in general. You don't talk about yourself much, but you always seem tense and worried when you come in here," Michayla told her matter-of-factly.

Alex paused. "Things are..._okay_," she finally answered softly.

"You don't sound like things are okay," Michayla pressed.

"It's _fine_, okay, Michayla?" Alex overrode her shortly.

Michayla pulled back. "Okay." She gave Alex a small smile.

"I'll be in tomorrow." She smiled, then got up and slipped out the door.

But Alex did not come in at her normal time the next day, nor had Ethan come in. Michayla was perturbed by this development; she wondered if Alex had been caught talking to her.

The day wore on, and still no one came other than to bring Michayla's food. She finally resorted to reading some more of Lord of the Flies, which she could only stand in small amounts at a time.

Finally, at what Michayla was sure had to be late evening, even night (there was no clock in her room), there was an urgent knock at the door, the familiar rattling, and in came Alex, looking more stressed than Michayla had ever seen her. "Come with me!" she whispered urgently.

"What's going on?" Michayla hurriedly got to her feet and followed Alex out the door. They were in a long hallway. Alex pressed herself against the wall and slowly moved down it, attempting to stay in the shadows. Michayla imitated her.

"We have to get you and Claire out of here tonight," Alex whispered as they crept along. "Something's changed Ethan's mind - they're going to cut the baby out of her - if she doesn't leave, she'll die!"

Michayla barely suppressed a gasp of shock and horror. Ethan was evil - she had always known it and here was the proof. They reached an archway at the end of the hall. There was a dark room here, and another hallway leading away. Alex turned and faced her, grabbing her by the arms. "Listen. I'm going to get Claire. You go up these stairs - " she indicated them, " - there's a trapdoor. Go through it, you'll be outside. Meet me just outside the door. If you see anyone, hide. I'll be out soon with Claire. Got it?" Alex's scared brown eyes were inches from Michayla's.

"Got it," Michayla whispered back. Alex nodded, then turned and dashed quietly down the hall, ponytail swinging. Michayla quickly found the stairs and climbed them.

The door opened with loud bang. Michayla cringed, sure someone had heard. She was not disappointed. She heard footsteps behind her and suddenly Ethan was there.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Michay - " He was cut off when Michayla punched him in the jaw with all her might. He tumbled down the stairs, where he lay still.

Michayla quickly hid herself in the shadows by the door, her heart pounding by strangely pleased with herself. She'd never punched someone so hard they were knocked out - actually, she didn't remember punching anyone since her cousin Bobby pissed her off when she was eight but that was beside the point.

After a few minutes, Alex climbed out through the door. She hefted something onto the ground, then quickly went back down. A moment later she came back, panting and dragging an unconscious Claire through the door. She unfolded the first thing she'd brought out and Michayla realized it was a wheelchair. "Michayla?" Alex whispered.

"Here." Michayla stood and went over to her

"Help me get Claire in the wheelchair, there's no way we'll be able to carry her," Alex whispered back. Together they heaved her into the chair and Alex quickly began pushing it.

"I'm going to take you until we get to the place they put the hood over your head," Alex told her quietly as Michayla jogged up to her side. "You should be able to find your way back from there." Michayla nodded to show she understood.

"What happened to Claire - why is she unconscious?" Michayla asked. She was quite happy to see Claire, but worried about her condition.

"I had to do that...sorry. She wouldn't come with me otherwise," Alex explained. "Let me tell you, pregnant women are really hard to carry." Alex said this in such a matter-of-fact way that Michayla had to stifle a giggle.

They walked on for what felt like hours, but perhaps it wasn't more than thirty minutes. Nevertheless, Michayla's exhaustion was catching up to her and her feet began to drag and her eyes were drooping.

Finally they came to the place beside the tree where Charlie had been hanged. Michayla looked up at it, shuddering. Charlie was gone - they must have found his body, Michayla concluded.

There was a small moan, and Claire was waking up. Alex pulled her to her feet. "Claire, go with Michayla. She's going to get you back to your people, okay?" Alex whispered.

Claire looked confused. "What? Okay..." She staggered over to Michayla, seeming very groggy and unsure of herself. Michayla pulled Claire's arm over her shoulder.

"Alex." Michayla turned back to her. "Thank you so much, for everything. If there's ever anything I can do to repay you - "

"You don't need to," Alex replied quickly. "Now go!" With that, Alex dashed into the trees and was gone.

Michayla and Claire slowly set off. Both were exhausted, and Claire still seemed confused and scared. She didn't say anything, but leaned heavily on Michayla to keep herself on her feet. They had not gone very far when there was a rustling in the bushes. Michayla stopped. "Hello?" she called in a quavery voice, eyes wide. Claire looked around the dark jungle, giving a small sob of fear.

Then there was a woman in front of them. For a split second Michayla thought it was Alex, but the woman reached for them and Claire screamed. The woman had ahold of Claire's arm and was pulling at her, Michayla was screaming too, Claire's nails dug into the woman's arm, leaving three long, deep scratches. With a yelp of pain, the woman retreated.

They stood there for a moment longer. "Who was she?" Michayla whispered.

"No idea," Claire murmured back, eyes still wide with fear.

They continued their trek. Several more hours seemed to pass, and Michayla was growing even more tired. "Come on, Claire," she encouraged softly, as much to lift her spirits as to help Claire along. "It can't be much farther now..." Claire said nothing, her feet still dragging on the ground. The shock of seeing the strange woman in the jungle seemed to be wearing off. Claire stumbled, her foot snapping a twig on the ground.

"Who's there?" The voice sounded a little scared, but the speaker was obviously trying to hide it. "Show yourself!" Michayla smiled with relief as she recognized the voice.

"Boone?" she called back, steering Claire toward the sound of his voice.

"_Michayla_?" Boone sounded shocked. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. And Claire." She pushed aside a branch and took in the comforting sight of Boone standing with Locke, looking very surprised.

As Locke gave her a small smile, Claire slipped out of Michayla's grasp as she fell unconscious.

**A/N Yeah...super long chapter! I hope you all like long chapters, haha. Reviews are much appreciated, and I promise the next chapter will be up much sooner than this one was. Oh...and this chapter may undergo revisions. If I repost it, I'll let everyone know. :-) Thanks for reading!**


	13. The Return

**A/N Yay for the new chapter, and it was finished a lot more quickly! Um...well, I can't think of much to say about it, so enjoy and please review!**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Homecoming**

**Or**

**The Return**

"Hello, Michayla," Locke said as he caught Claire before she hit the ground, speaking as matter-of-factly as if kidnap victims regularly emerged from the bushes in his presence. "Are you and Claire all right?"

"I think so," Michayla replied. "I'm just so _tired_...we've been walking for ages, I didn't know if we would ever get back here!"

"Well, you're safe now." With some difficulty, Locke heaved Claire's unconscious body into his arms. "Boone, give Michayla a hand, she looks dead on her feet. We need to get them both back to Jack." Locke draped Claire over his shoulder and led the way.

Boone started towards Michayla. "Here." His voice was surprisingly soft as he slid an arm around her waist. Michayla gratefully put her arm over his shoulders, thankful to have someone to lean on, instead of being leaned on by Claire. The two of them started after Locke, Michayla finally nearly falling asleep.

After a moment her head began to nod, her eyelids drooping, but she was jerked back to wakefulness as she stumbled on the dark ground. Boone tightened the arm around her waist. "Careful," he warned. He paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you want me to carry you? We'll get back to camp a lot faster..."

"No," Michayla replied as firmly as she could. "I can make it."

Boone snorted. "Guess we know you're all right, huh?"

"I'm sick of everyone treating me like some little kid they all have to look after..." she mumbled.

"I _don't_ think you're a little kid." His voice sounded loud, again jolting her awake, even though in reality it was no louder than he'd been talking.

"Yeah. Sure you don't." They walked in silence for a moment, then Michayla felt herself falling asleep again. She stumbled, and Boone caught her. He gave her a look that said _I-told-you-so_, but said nothing.

After this had happened three times, Boone stopped her. "Michayla, this is ridiculous."

"_You're_ ridiculous!" she snapped back. It was something she and Cassie had often done to each other. ("That looks silly." "You look silly." "Geometry was created by the devil." "You were created by the devil.").

Boone ignored her. "If we keep going like this, we're not going to get back anytime soon. I'm going to carry you, okay?"

"Whatever." Michayla reluctantly consented. Boone easily lifted her off the ground, and she put her arms around his neck, leaning her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and left herself drift off. _Safe_. The feeling washed over her life a huge, comforting wave, and Michayla finally fell asleep.

* * *

"Jack!" Michayla's eyes slowly fluttered open at the sound of Locke's shout. She glanced around, discovering that they were back in the caves. Claire was still unconscious. Now people were waking up, whispering to each other, and crowding around the strange little group - the two hunters, one unconscious pregnant woman, and one half-asleep teenager.

Boone noticed she was awake and set her back on her feet. She staggered a little; she was still tired. Boone grabbed her arm. "You all right?" he asked softly, brushing several stray hairs out of her face.

"Yeah..I think so." Slowly she lowered herself to the ground, next to Claire, who Locke had laid carefully on the floor. Boone sat down next to her.

"Let me through!" It was Jack's voice; he was moving through the crowd to reach them. Charlie was following closely behind him.

Charlie pushed ahead of Jack and dove for Claire. "Claire. _Claire_!" He touched her forehead gently. "Is she okay?" he demanded, turning his head from Locke to Michayla. "What's wrong?"

Michayla's sleep-muddled brain was still trying to process something. She had seen Charlie hanged from the tree...but he was here now...but that meant..."I'm dreaming," Michayla finally said sadly. She was going to wake up back in that room, and Ethan was going to be there again.

"You're what?" Charlie asked urgently.

"I'm dreaming," she said more firmly. "Because you can't be here, because you're dead!"

Charlie's face grew more understanding. "You're not dreaming, Michayla," he told her gently. "I'm alive; Jack and Kate came after us and got me back." His attention shifted back to Claire.

Michayla was overjoyed. She leaned over and hugged him around the neck. "I thought you were dead!"

Charlie absentmindedly patted her arm. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know I was alive, but you know, you were kidnapped, made communication difficult." He leaned closer to Claire as Michayla let go of him. "Claire!"

Claire slowly opened her eyes. She did a double take. Then, with a scream, she backed away.

"Claire!" Charlie moved closer to her. "It's okay, Claire, you're safe now!"

Claire stared at him with wide, scared eyes. "Who're you?" She wildly turned her head left and right. "_Who are you people?_" she screamed.

* * *

It took some time, but Jack and Charlie managed to calm Claire down. Sometime between falling unconscious and waking up, Claire had lost her memory from the time of the crash until now. Jack was unsure if - and if so, when - Claire's memory would return, but Michayla sincerely hoped it would be soon. Claire didn't have a clue what had happened to her, but she was terrified.

While Charlie filled Claire in on the events of the day of their kidnapping, Michayla sat by the pond by herself, hugging her knees. Jack knelt in front of her.

"Michayla," he began, "I need you to tell me what happened to you."

"You wouldn't believe me if I did," she mumbled.

"I promise I will believe whatever you say," Jack assured her. "Please tell me what you can remember."

Michayla tilted her head. "I remember everything. I'm not the one with amnesia, Jack." She sighed. "Okay. A couple days after we crashed here, I had this dream. A weird, sort of ... prophetic dream. Not too unusual, it just scared me to death. Boone knows I had a nightmare, that I woke up screaming from it, you can ask him - so does everyone who went on the hike to get the transceiver to work." She bit her lip, then continued. "But what I didn't tell anyone was that I had this dream more than once."

"Michayla, you're losing me here. What does this have to do with your kidnapping?" Jack asked gently.

"I'm getting there. Once, when I woke up after having the nightmare again, Ethan saw me awake. He came and talked to me, asking me what was going on. I was half-asleep, didn't think anything of telling him about it, the fact that I thought it was prophetic. He seemed, like, really interested in it. A few days later, he asked me about it again. I got a little defensive and told him to back off." She took a breath. Jack was still watching her seriously, not saying anything. "The day Claire and I were kidnapped, Ethan took us. Two other men were also there. Their names were..." She struggled to remember. "Tom and...Danny. They took me to this little...station, I guess. It was kinda underground..." Michayla filled Jack in on everything that had happened during the time she was imprisoned. She told him about the machine, about Ethan, about Alex, and finally about her visions. She watched Jack closely, wondering if he really would believe her.

Jack's expression was hard to read. Finally he spoke. "You saw Boone talking to Shannon on the beach?" he asked.

Michayla nodded. "It wasn't a memory. I think it was happening _at the time I saw it_."

"Do you mind if we ask Boone about it?" Jack asked gently.

Michayla stared at him. "You _don't_ believe me."

"You have to admit, Michayla, it is a little unbelievable...listen, if Boone can confirm what you say you saw, I won't doubt you anymore. Okay?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

Michayla crossed her arms. "Whatever."

Jack called Boone over to them, and Michayla quickly explained the visions and what she'd seen of him. "Five days after I was kidnapped, did you talk to Shannon on the beach, tell her you were looking for me and Claire, then tell her she was useless?"

Boone looked taken aback. "Um...yeah."

"See!" Michayla turned back to Jack. "I told you!"

"And I believe you." Jack smiled a little at her as Boone stood up and left. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you?"

Michayla shook her head. "No. I'm fine, Jack."

"Okay." Jack stood, rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment, and said. "It's good to have you back." Michayla smiled back at him.

After Jack left, Boone approached her, holding out a blanket. "Here."

Michayla smiled slightly at him. "Thanks," she said, taking the blanket and wrapping it around herself. Boone sat down beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Michayla shrugged. "Physically, yeah. Mentally and emotionally, I think so."

"They didn't hurt you or anything?" Boone pressed.

She shook her head. "No. Not intentionally." She smiled a bit. "I wasn't tortured or anything."

"I'm...glad you're safe," Boone told her, rather quickly.

"Me too." She glanced around at her surroundings. "Never thought I'd be happy to be back here," she commented.

Boone laughed a little, standing up. "You need anything? Are you going to be okay, sleeping in the caves again?"

"Sleeping in the caves is going to be like sleeping in my own bedroom at home, after the room they kept me in," Michayla assured him. She looked up at him seriously. "Listen, Boone, it's really sweet of you to care. I appreciate it."

Boone looked down at her, smiling. "It's no problem. Don't mention it. Good night, Michayla." He started off, then turned back. "The day before you get taken - maybe you don't remember - "

"I'm not the one with amnesia," Michayla cut in, reminding him as she had reminded Jack.

"Yeah, well - when we were in the jungle and you saw me looking at you - you asked if there was something in your teeth - " Boone stopped, then took a breath and started again. "All I was thinking was that your eyes are very - bright green."

"Yeahhh." Michayla wondered when he would get to the point. "I know...I've had 'em for sixteen years. People at school used to tell me I looked like Lily Potter - you know, Harry Potter's mom? - because I have red hair and green eyes. Is that what you were going to say?"

"No." Boone smiled down at her. "They're pretty."

"Oh!" Michayla was taken off guard. She smiled awkwardly, unsure what to say. "Um...thanks!"

Boone grinned. "Good night."

"'Night." Michayla watched him go, then stood and walked over to the place she had always slept. All her things were still there, exactly as she had left them. Adjusting her pillow, Michayla laid down and was asleep in moment. The last two weeks had been very exhausting.

* * *

Michayla slowly opened her eyes the next morning. The sun was up and shone on her face, warming it. The sun. Michayla hadn't seen it since she'd been kidnapped.

"Morning." Jack was walking up to her, and tossed her a piece of fruit. "Did you sleep all right?"

"Yeah." Michayla took a bite of the fruit, getting used to the now-unfamiliar taste. "How's Claire?"

"She'll be fine. I'm hoping her memory will return, but there's always the chance it won't - not completely, anyway." Jack sat down beside her. "Did you tell me everything you could?"

"Of course!" Michayla was surprised and a little angry. "Jack, why wouldn't I tell you everything? I want us to be able to find Ethan, to be able to fight if these people come back!"

"Just making sure." Jack looked at her seriously. "Just remember, if you start feeling sick, or anything, you need to tell me."

Michayla smiled a little. "They didn't hurt me, Jack, I promise. Don't worry."

"Okay. Good." He stood up and turned to go. "If you need anything, be sure and let me know."

"I will. Thanks, Jack." After Jack left, Michayla dug into her bag and pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a brown tank top, then went into the jungle by herself. She washed her face and hair as well as she could, glad to feel the cool water on her skin, before changing out of the clothes she'd been wearing for the past two weeks during her imprisonment.

On her way back to the caves, she ran into Scott. "Hi, Michayla!" He gave her a smile. "I heard what happened - I'm glad you're back."

"Me too, Scott," she answered wryly. "Me too."

"Good to hear you're okay," he said with a nod, before continuing to the beach. "See you."

"Bye, Scott." Michayla returned to the caves to put her old clothes away, then moved back into the sunshine. It felt so good to be in the sun. There had been no window in her room - her cell, more like - back in that place they'd kept her in, and it had of course been nighttime when Alex had helped her escape. She slowly made her way to the beach. Jack and Sayid were talking to each other urgently. Michayla assumed it was about her and Claire when Sayid looked over Jack's shoulder and then pointed her out to Jack. Michayla took the opportunity to go over to them.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Sayid just said something - I think it's a stretch, but let him tell you and see what you think." Jack crossed his arms and looked at Sayid.

Sayid faced her. "Claire says she doesn't remember anything - she's pregnant, Michayla, how could she have escaped alone? My thought was, how do we know this Ethan hasn't sent her back?"

"Um, because I was with her!" Michayla was offended. "Sayid, there was a girl there who came in and talked to me every day, she was going to help us escape. She's only my age, and she seemed to be more on our side than the rest of them. She helped both me and Claire escape, and we were able to do that by pushing her in a wheelchair, then I helped her the rest of the way until we met Locke and Boone."

Something seemed to have caught Sayid's attention, and he paused. "This girl - what was her name? How old was she?"

"I told you, she's about my age - sixteen or so. Her name is Alex. Why?"

"Because," Sayid said, "I think I know who she is. When I set out to explore the island, I was captured by a French woman called Rousseau."

"The one who sent out that transmission?" Michayla interrupted incredulously.

"Yes, that was her. Rousseau told me she was part of a scientific team who were stranded on the island when she was seven months pregnant. Her entire team died before the child was born, but Rousseau survived to give birth to a baby girl who she called Alex. Soon after the girl was born, the people Rousseau called the Others came and kidnapped her. Rousseau never saw her again." Sayid paused again. "That was sixteen years ago. This Alex must be the daughter of Rousseau, raised as one of them."

Michayla blinked at him. "That's, um...interesting, Sayid. But what does it have to do with anything?"

"It just means we may have an ally among our enemies. How many of them did you see there?" Sayid questioned her.

"Other than Alex, there were four." Michayla ticked off the names on her fingers. "Ethan, Danny, Tom, and the guy who brought me my food. He never talked to me. He was kinda young. He looked nervous. But I'm positive there were more." She suddenly remembered something. "The day they took me, one of them mentioned a man called Ben. It sounded like he was in charge."

"All right." Sayid nodded. "Thank you, Michayla. We know there are at least five - and I'm certain that can't be all of them." He turned to Jack again and began talking to him about Ethan and the Rest of Them. Michayla assumed they didn't need her for anything else, and walked off.

The beach was full of the same activity that it had before she was kidnapped. It all still felt surreal to her, being back around with everything that felt familiar yet foreign. Life goes on, she thought, even when mine's turned upside down.

Michayla noticed that the people on the beach were eyeing her apprehensively, and when they noticed she was looking at them, they quickly turned away. A wave of annoyance swept over her. Did they all agree with Sayid - did they think there was a possibility that Ethan had sent her and Claire back to spy on them? Michayla agreed that it might look suspicious, but still...she couldn't see why they would think that. In frustration, she left the beach and stomped through the jungle. Preoccupied, she didn't notice Boone until he was right in front of her.

"Oh! Hi, sorry," Michayla said, looking up at him.

"That's okay," Boone replied with a smile. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Um, why is everyone staring at me?" Michayla asked abruptly. "I'm serious, everyone at the beach is looking at me like I've got two heads. Is it because they think I'm working for Ethan? Sayid actually asked me if Ethan sent Claire back. Or - " She had a sudden thought, "Did somebody spread around about the weird vision things I was having? Do they think I'm some sort of freaky psychic girl?"

Boone looked taken aback. "Michayla, no one thinks you're working for Ethan. Don't even listen to Sayid. And as far as I know, no one's talked about your visions - I think the only people who really know are me, Jack, and Charlie."

"How does Charlie know?" Michayla demanded. "He wasn't there when I told you and Jack about them."

"I think he felt bad that he hadn't been more concerned about you. After you were asleep he asked me if you were all right and what happened to you - I thought it would be okay to tell him since you two are friends."

Michayla's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, that's fine, Boone." She paused. "But that still doesn't tell me why everyone's staring."

"Maybe they're just glad you're back," suggested Boone.

Michayla laughed. "Thanks, Boone. I needed to laugh. Hey, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Where are you going?" asked Boone.

"I want to find Claire and see how she's doing," Michayla explained. She started off, waving at Boone over her shoulder.

She found Claire sitting in the jungle, diary in hand, talking to Charlie. Both looked up as Michayla approached.

"Hi, Michayla," Charlie greeted her. "Claire, you remember - "

"I remember her from last night, but not before," Claire interrupted. "You're name's Michayla, right?" she added, now addressing Michayla.

"Yeah." Michayla sat down next to her. "How are you doing, Claire? Any memory coming back?"

"No, not after the crash," Claire said sadly. "I don't remember anything."

Michayla patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure it'll come back, Claire, don't worry."

"How can I not worry?" she asked softly. She turned to Charlie. "Charlie, do you mind if I talk to Michayla alone for a few minutes?"

"Not at all," he answered quickly, standing up. "I've got to talk to someone anyway... Just remember if you need anything - I'm here."

"Thanks, Charlie." Claire watched him leave, then turned to Michayla. "What happened to us out there?"

Michayla bit her lip. "I don't know much of what happened to you. I know you were drugged up most of the time. They kept you in a room - it looked like you were treated okay."

Claire looked at her. "Why did they want me? Why did they want you? Tell me the truth. I need to know."

"I know, Claire, I'm not lying to you," Michayla replied hastily. "I think - it was something to do with your baby. Your baby's fine - but they took you because of your baby. That's what I _think_, so don't quote me on that, but I'm probably right. They wanted me because...well..." Michayla gave Claire a quick rundown on the visions she'd been having. "And that's all I know," she finished.

Claire nodded. "All right. Thank you. It's making a little more sense now. I still don't know what he did to me...but it's less confusing." Claire paused. "Do you get the feeling that everyone's avoiding you? Because they are me. No one will talk to me."

Michayla was surprised that Claire was having the same problem. "Yes! Well, not avoiding so much as _staring_, but still. Yes. They are."

"Why?" Claire asked, almost to herself. "Charlie says nothing's going on, but..."

"Boone said almost the same thing to me when I asked him why everyone was staring," Michayla commented. "He said something stupid like, _'Maybe they're glad to see you._' Um, yeah. Sure."

"Who's Boone?" Claire wanted to know.

"He's one of the people who found us in the jungle - young guy, tall, brown hair?" Michayla told her. Claire shrugged.

"It's just so confusing. I don't know who to trust or what to think," Claire admitted.

"Do you trust anyone?" Michayla asked gently.

"I trust you," Claire said firmly. "Because you were kidnapped along with me, you escaped with me, and you've been honest with me."

"Yeah. That, and the fact that I'm only sixteen."

"That too." Claire actually smiled.

"I think you should be able to trust Charlie as well, Claire," Michayla told her.

Claire sighed. "I just don't know, Michayla. I don't doubt that he's a good person. I doubt his honesty, though."

Michayla smiled mirthlessly. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out."

"I guess so."

* * *

That night, Michayla was sitting in the caves, writing in her diary and trying to avoid the stares of the other residents of the caves. Charlie came up and sat beside her. "Hey."

"Hey," Michayla replied, closing her diary. "What's up?"

"Not much - just came to see how you were doing."

"I'm doing all right, Charlie. Even though everyone needs to learn that staring is rude." She glared at a woman across the cave, who looked away as soon as Michayla looked at her. Michayla glanced around. "Where are Locke and Boone - and Sayid? They're usually in the caves, aren't they?"

Charlie looked at her. "They're - ah - just over at the beach tonight."

Michayla stared back at him. "Is there something you're all keeping from us? Something you're not telling Claire and me? Because, Charlie, if there is, you know Claire won't be very happy that you didn't tell her."

Charlie was silent for a moment. "Don't worry about anything, Michayla," he finally responded. "Everything's fine."

"Everyone keeps telling me that," countered Michayla grumpily, "only I don't remember everything ever being _less_ fine. I'm confused, being stared at for God-know-why, Claire has amnesia, and I am completely convinced that everyone knows something I don't, thanks to Boone being such a bad liar."

"Michayla. I promise that everything is under control," Charlie told her firmly.

She looked at him for a moment longer. "Okay, Charlie. If you say so."

"I do say so." He grinned. "Good night, Michayla."

"Good night, Charlie." She stood and went to put her diary away.

* * *

The next day things seemed just as tense around the caves, if not even tenser. Michayla stuck with Claire a lot of the time - she felt that they were pretty much in the same boat, though Claire was much worse off than Michayla. Michayla couldn't even imagine what it was like for Claire, having lost her memory in the worst situation possible. She hoped that she was helping Claire feel more at ease, being back at the camp.

However, people were still giving both of them a wide berth, edging around them, wide-eyed, as if they were a poisonous snake just waiting to strike, or a time bomb that would go off at any moment.

Michayla slammed a bottle of water onto the dirt floor of the cave. "I'm _sick_ of this!" she burst out in frustration. "What did we _do_?"

"If I knew, I would tell you," Claire answered miserably. "I can't possibly believe that nothing's going on."

"Neither can I, Claire." She kicked at the ground. "I wish this whole thing had never happened. I wish neither of us had been kidnapped."

"I wish I could remember," Claire said. "It's awful."

"I can't imagine what you're going through, Claire." Michayla looked at her apologetically. "If I'm being inconsiderate, please tell me."

"No, it's all right." Claire shook her head. "There's really nothing you can do to help my memory." She sighed. "I think it's just going to take time."

Boone entered the cave, strode over to the pond, and picked up a bottle of water. Michayla touched Claire on the shoulder, then went over to him. "Where were you, Locke, and Sayid last night?"

Boone busied himself filling the bottle with water from the pond. "Nowhere."

"Come on," Michayla groaned. "What were you doing?"

Boone was pretending not to hear her.

Michayla looked at him. "Are you gay?"

Boone turned to face her, a small but humorless smile on his face. "That's funny, Michayla. You're just full of good ones, aren't you?"

"No, actually, that's about the first joke I've said since I got back," Michayla pointed out. "_Where were you last night_?"

"I was just at the beach! Okay?" Boone looked frustrated.

"Okay. Fine." Michayla decided to drop it. "Are you going back there, then?"

He took a drink from the bottle. "Yes."

"What's going on down there now?" she demanded. "Don't tell me it's nothing again."

Boone glanced at her and sighed. "You know Scott?"

"Yes..."

He looked at her with expressionless eyes. "He's dead."

Michayla took a step backward, eyes widening. "What?" she whispered. She _knew_ Scott - he's helped her the day she'd stepped on a broken clamshell - he'd been happy to see her when she escaped from Ethan - how could he possibly be dead? "What happened?"

Boone hesitated. "He...drowned. They're burying him now, if you want to come..."

Michayla nodded. "Yes, I want to," she said softly. Boone put a hand on her shoulder briefly, then led the way out of the caves.

The funeral was brief - Hurley said a few words, then they buried Scott. Michayla still couldn't believe it. He'd drowned? Hadn't he realized how dangerous the ocean was after Joanna drowned so long ago. Michayla threw a handful of sand into the grave, gazed at the blanket-covered body for a moment, then turned to leave.

Kate, Jack, and Locke were whispering urgently about something of other, but Michayla didn't pay attention. She slowly made her way back to the caves, her feet dragging. It was such a shock - it was so sudden - she supposed they hadn't really realized that the longer they were on this island, the more likely it was that someone would die. _Why did it have to be Scott? _

As soon as Michayla entered the caves, she was confronted by Claire. "Did you know?" she demanded furiously.

"Did I know what?" Michayla asked, taken aback.

"About how that man at the beach died!" Claire almost yelled.

"I dunno - he - he just drowned, didn't he?" Michayla was confused.

Claire took her by the wrist. "Come on." She pulled Michayla across the cave and over to Shannon. "Shannon, tell Michayla what you just told me!" she ordered.

Shannon looked uncomfortable. "The man who just died - he was killed."

"_What_?" Michayla demanded. "They told me he drowned!"

Shannon shook her head. "He was murdered by Ethan." Michayla's jaw dropped, but Shannon continued, "Yesterday Ethan attacked Charlie and Jin in the jungle. He said if Charlie didn't bring the two of you back, he'd kill one person every day. Locke set up alarm systems and guards around the beach camp, but Ethan somehow got past them - and killed Scott."

Everything clicked into place. "This is why everyone's been avoiding us." It was a statement, not a question.

Shannon nodded. "Pretty much."

* * *

Claire and Michayla sat by the pond, grumpily watching the group over by the entrance to the caves. "Why didn't they tell us?" Michayla demanded.

Claire sighed. "Charlie _says_ there's nothing we could have done. He says he was trying to protect me."

"Well, he probably was, but that's still no excuse." Michayla watched Jack, Charlie, and Locke argue animatedly. "You know what they're talking about?"

"No, what now?"

"Jack and Locke have some guns, and they're thinking if they took us to the place Ethan said to, they'd be able to capture him," Michayla explained. "Charlie's trying to talk them out of it."

"Does he _want_ more people to die?" Claire exclaimed, sitting up as best she could. "If there's anything we can do to stop it, it'll be that!"

"So...use ourselves as bait." Michayla rummaged in her back and pulled out a black-and-pink hoodie - the evening was getting a little chilly. She shoved her arms into the sleeves and zipped it up.

"Exactly," Claire replied quietly.

Michayla was quiet for a moment. "Should we do it?"

"Yes," Claire whispered.

"Are you scared?" Michayla asked softly.

"A little," Claire admitted. "But I don't remember Ethan. Are you scared?"

"Just a little," Michayla replied. "I think it'll be fine, though. Should we tell them we want to help?"

"Yes, let's go." Claire let Michayla help her to her feet and together they approached the group.

"No bloody way!" Charlie was saying. "You can't use them as bait, he - "

"We can speak for ourselves, Charlie," Claire cut in, coming up behind him.

"Claire and I have been talking," Michayla continued.

"We want to do this," Claire blurted.

Charlie looked shocked. "No - Claire - "

"I don't remember Ethan," Claire went on, "I don't remember what he did to me. But if I can help stop more people from being killed - I will do it."

"I _do_ remember Ethan," Michayla put in. "But I also agree with Claire - if Claire and I just stand by and let it happen, it's as good as our fault. We _have_ to do this."

Jack looked serious. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely," Claire said firmly.

Jack nodded slowly. "All right. Let's see if we can get some more people together."

* * *

Before long, Michayla was standing on the beach with Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Sayid, Kate, and Claire. Charlie had wanted to come, but Locke hadn't allowed him to, because he'd never used a gun. Jack was going over what was going to happen.

"The two of you, just stand on the path," Jack instructed Michayla and Claire. "Everyone is going to be able to see you from where they are, so we don't need to worry about that. When Ethan shows up, run, and we'll jump out to capture him. If everything goes well, we'll be able to take him prisoner. Understand?"

Claire gave a short nod. "Yes," Michayla agreed.

"All right, let's head out, then." Locke turned and began leading the way down the beach and into the jungle.

Michayla noticed Charlie leaning against a tree. She had felt bad when Locke had told him he couldn't come - if anyone deserved to, he did. Michayla turned and started over to him, wanting to say something before leaving, but Sawyer grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Come on, Eowyn," he muttered. "You heard Locke - Merry ain't comin'. Let's go, all right?"

Michayla glanced back at Charlie once more before following Sawyer and the rest of the group. Sawyer kept his hand on her shoulder until they reached the jungle - whether to keep her from going to Charlie or to comfort her, Michayla didn't know.

Finally they came to a small path surrounded by dense trees and bushes. Jack went over the plan once more, then told everyone to find a place to hide where they would be in visual contact with Claire and Michayla.

Kate hugged both of them. "Good luck," she whispered.

"You too," Michayla answered. Claire didn't say anything - she was beginning to look very nervous.

After everyone was hidden, a heavy rain began pouring down. Michayla pulled her hood over her head and tightened it. "Are you okay, Claire?" she asked softly.

"I think so." She shivered. "I'm glad I'm not alone."

"So am I." She put her arm around Claire's shoulders and gave her a quick hug, then lowered her arm. The rain was falling even more heavily now, and Michayla's hair not covered by her hood hung in dripping strands around her face. She could just barely hear Claire's heavy, nervous breathing over the sound of the rain.

Then a stick snapped behind them. Both girls whirled around - Ethan was slipping between two trees to get to them, looking scarier than Michayla had even seen him. There were long scratches down the side of his face, and Michayla had just enough time to wonder how they'd gotten there, before she saw an expression of pure terror cross Claire's face - though Claire had met him before, she was seeing Ethan as though for the first time. She turned and began running with a scream, and Michayla started after her, her heart pounding. Ethan was wordlessly running after them. The fact that he wasn't speaking unsettled her - she ran on, her feet splashing in the puddles, and fear flooded through her like ice, freezing her veins and causing her heart to beat harder and faster.

Suddenly Jack jumped out of the bushes, crashing into Ethan and knocking him to the ground. His gun slid across the muddy path, past Michayla and Claire until it came to a stop. Michayla watched as the two men fought soundlessly - what was still scaring her more than anything was how silent and - _wild_, like a jungle _animal_ - Ethan was being. It was suck a difference from the doctor she'd spent ten days imprisoned by. That had been Ethan's facade, she now realized.

Kate leapt out from her hiding place and ran over to Claire and Michayla. "Are you okay?" she asked them both, giving Claire a hug. Claire, crying and nearly hyperventilating, nodded frantically.

Sawyer, Locke, and Sayid were out in the open by now as well. Jack finally overpowered Ethan and knocked him to the ground, with Sayid, Sawyer and Locke all pointing their guns at him.

"Nice one, doc," Sawyer panted. "Now maybe somebody can tell me who or _what_ this son of a bitch is!"

Ethan was on his knees, glaring up at all of them. Michayla couldn't get over his silence - he'd been a regular chatterbox when she'd last seen him. It was almost like they were two different people.

For a few moments no one moved or spoke. Then, suddenly, several shots shattered the darkness. Ethan stumbled, then fell spread-eagled on the ground, dead with around six bullets in his chest. Everyone stared around, wide-eyed to see who had done it.

Charlie was standing several feet away with the gun Jack had dropped. Charlie's face was contorted in a scowl of pure hatred.

* * *

Michayla was still shell-shocked when they got back to the caves. Jack and the others weren't happy with what Charlie had done. As the numbness of the shock wore off, Michayla realized she was. She was glad Ethan was dead. After everything he'd done - he deserved it.

Michayla approached Charlie as he stood in the caves alone. "I wanted to say thank you," she blurted.

"For what?" he mumbled.

"For coming after us when we went out there. For doing what you did." Michayla looked at him. "It was very brave, and you had more right than any of them to be there. I'm not holding it against you because - well - I'm glad Ethan's dead."

Charlie's lips twitched upward briefly. "Thanks, Michayla. Glad someone agrees with me." His voice dripped with bitterness. "Jack thinks if we'd taken him prisoner he could have told us about Them."

"He never would have!" Michayla scorned. "Did you see how silent he was being when we were out there? I'd never seen him like that before." She shuddered. "It was so scary."

Charlie put a hand on her shoulder. "You were both really brave out there, Michayla. Not just anyone would have been able to do that. You and Claire were brilliant."

"I was - trying not be be so scared," she said carefully. "Because I knew how terrified Claire was. If anyone's brave, it's her."

Charlie smiled. "It's good to have you back. Both of you, not just Claire."

Michayla grinned back - the first time she could remember really smiling since she'd returned. "Thanks, Charlie. Good night."

"Good night, Michayla," he replied.

Michayla turned and headed to her sleeping space, passing Claire and touching her on the shoulder as she went by. Then she laid down by her bags and stared up at the ceiling. The first time she's smiled since she'd returned - _home_. She was really thinking of this place as _home_ now. And compared with anywhere else she'd been on the island - it was the closest thing she had. Michayla pulled her blanket over her, closed her eyes, and was asleep in moments.

**A/N Hope you liked it! Reviews are appreciated!**


	14. The Whispers

**A/N So sorry for the long wait! This chapter was harder than I thought it would be. / Grr. Another kinda filler chapter, not a lot happens, and some stuff that happens if kinda random. I promise it'll get better soon! I don't know how long the next chapter will take me, but I hope not too long! Reviews are much appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Lost, Charlie, Shannon, Alex, and Boone would all still be alive. Quite obviously, it's not mine.**

**Chapter 14**

**Outlaws**

**or**

**The Whispers**

"Hey, Jack." Michayla approached Jack in the caves. "Got a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" Jack stood up, brushing his hands off on his jeans.

"Can I talk to you, like, doctor-to-patient kinda deal?" Michayla asked.

"Yeah. Are you feeling okay?" Jack peered at her concernedly.

"Well, yeah. But...I want to know why I was having those visions. And I want to know if I'll have them again," Michayla told him outright.

Jack tilted his head. "I'm no brain surgeon, Michayla, so I don't know if I'll be able to help you with everything you want to know. But if you really want, and if you don't mind talking about your medical history, I can try and figure it out. Come on over here." Jack led Michayla to the place in the caves where he kept his medical supplies. "All right," Jack said, sitting down. "Let's see if we can figure this out. Have you ever been on any prescription medication?"

Michayla thought. "About five years ago, I broke my ankle. I had some painkillers for that."

"Do you remember what they were called?"

"No," Michayla answered, rolling her eyes. "I was eleven."

"Okay." Jack nodded. "Any other drugs - anything for depression, OCD, anything like that?"

"No, never!" Michayla stared at him. "I'm not depressed!"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I didn't say you were. Okay, have you been hospitalized for anything other than your ankle?"

Michayla tapped her chin. "Let's see...had my tonsils out when I was six, broke my ankle when I was eight...and when I was thirteen I had a concussion."

"A concussion." Jack looked up at her. "How did that happen? Tell me about it."

Michayla raised her eyebrows, then began. "I was playing basketball and my friend threw the ball to me. It hit me on the head, I tripped over my shoelaces, then fell and hit my head on the gym floor."

"Sounds pretty bad," Jack commented. "What happened after?"

Michayla hesitated. "Well, they told me I was unconscious all the way to the hospital..." She paused. "But I have a clear memory of being in the ambulance. I remember seeing my parents in the ambulance with me."

Jack shifted his position so he faced her better. "Michayla, when I found you on the beach the day we crashed here, I'm pretty sure you had a concussion. Couple days later, you say you had this dream. Then...when you were taken, Charlie told us they hit you on the head with a rock." Jack appeared to be thinking.

Michayla waited for him to speak again. When he didn't, she broke the silence. "You think...they're related? My visions and the concussions?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, I don't know. I'm no expert on a subject like this, but it seems to me that you remembering being in the ambulance is a lot like the visions you had when you were captured."

"But nothing happened after that concussion when I was thirteen!" Michayla reasoned.

"Yeah, well..." Jack looked at her. "You were in the hospital for that. They would have kept an eye on you, given you medicine...with everything going on, I wasn't able to watch you after your concussion in the crash. So I wonder, Michayla...do you know what a concussion is, really?"

Michayla shrugged. "Sort of."

"When someone has a concussion, her brain moves around and bumps against her skull," Jack explained. "I wonder if the movement of your brain triggered some kind of...sixth sense, or psychic ability within you."

"You can't know for sure?" Michayla asked.

Jack shook his head. "If we were back home, maybe..but here? Not a chance."

"Well, do you think I'll have them again?" Michayla demanded.

Jack looked thoughtful. "It's possible," he finally replied. "But again...there's no way we can know for sure."

Michayla sighed. "Thanks for your time, Jack. I know you're busy."

"Hey, no problem." He gave her a smile. "If there's anything you need, just let me know."

"I will, Jack, thanks again." Michayla smiled back, stood up, and walked out of the caves.

--

_No. Freaking. Way._

So thought Michayla as she stood in the jungle, staring at what she'd found on the ground.

A camera.

A Polaroid camera? She assumed it was from the crash, since there were bits of wreckage strewn around, along with some suitcases, but she marveled at the fact that the camera had survived in one piece.

It couldn't possibly still work. Could it?

Michayla was big on photography - she had an album of photos from almost every trip she'd been on in her life, but the camera she'd brought to Sydney with her had gotten wet in the crash and didn't work anymore.

The Polaroid camera was a lot bigger than the digital ones she was used to - carefully she picked it up and looked it over. It looked to be in pretty good condition. Michayla couldn't believe it - but then again, Charlie's guitar had survived the crash with barely a scratch. Experimentally Michayla lifted the camera to her eye and snapped a picture of a tree. To her astonishment, the camera spat the photo out, and it began to develop as the light hit it. Within a few moments, the photo was developed and the picture was clear.

Obviously, the camera worked.

Michayla laughed in amazement. She'd brought a camera to Australia with her, but it no longer worked since the crash. The island was really quite pretty, if you could ignore the things like being kidnapped by Them, and the monster in the jungle. She knew everyone was going to think she was crazy for wanting to take pictures of this place, this godforsaken island they were stranded on, but Michayla didn't care. It was a beautiful place, and she'd made friends here - people she might not see ever again once they were rescued. She wanted to remember them.

Michayla's wandering feet led her back to the caves, camera in hand and a smile on her face. She looked up and glanced around. The caves were pretty deserted, other than a few people she didn't really know, and Claire sitting next to the pond, looking rather forlorn. Michayla turned and headed over to her. "Hey, Claire," she said cheerfully, sitting down next to her.

Claire glanced up and gave her a small smile. "Hi, Michayla."

"How's it going?" Michayla asked.

Claire shrugged. "All right. I remember a little more now." She paused. "I remember I gave you something - what did I give you?"

Michayla grinned. "I had my sixteenth birthday here on the island. You wrote out a horoscope for me."

Claire smiled slightly. "Oh...what was your sign, then?"

"Libra." Michayla held out the camera. "Look what I found in the jungle!"

Claire's eyebrows furrowed. "A camera? You found it in the _jungle_?"

"Hey, there's tons of stuff out there from the crash," Michayla pointed out with a smile. "It works, too!"

"What? Really? No way." Claire looked skeptical.

"Seriously, I'll show you. Here, lean in and I'll take a picture of us." Claire, still looking as if she thought it couldn't possibly worked, leaned over to Michayla and smiled as Michayla held the camera out in front of them.

Polaroid cameras were not built for taking pictures this way - it was bulky and heavy, but Michayla managed to snap a quick picture without dropping it. The photo slid out and Michayla held it up to Claire, who watched, surprised, as it came into focus.

"How on earth did it survive the crash?" asked Claire, bemused.

"You'd be surprised," Michayla assured her. "Charlie's guitar made it - my flute made it - there was plenty of stuff that came through undamaged." She examined the photo. "It's a nice picture of us."

"Yeah. What are you going to do with it?"

"Keep it, of course," Michayla replied. "Everyone can think I'm nuts - probably they already do - but I do want to remember _some_ things about this island."

"What would you _want_ to remember?" Claire asked with a small laugh.

"I _have_ made some friends here, you know - you, Charlie, Boone, Shannon - that's what I want to remember from this place. That, and the few fun times we've had. You'll see, once your memory comes back," Michayla told her.

"You're so optimistic," Claire commented.

"I try," Michayla replied with a laugh. "It makes it easier to get by. Hey, how come Charlie's not around?"

Claire shrugged. "He said he had some things to do. Didn't elaborate."

"Hmm." Michayla was bemused. "How have things been for you? Is it still weird?"

"Yeah," Claire said. "I still don't remember much, and everyone thinks I'm the weird amnesia chick, you know..."

Michayla shrugged. "Hey, everyone thinks I'm the freaky psychic girl. We can be freaks together."

Claire laughed. "Thanks." She looked down at the camera in Michayla's hands. "Are you going to take more pictures, then?"

"I think so, yeah. Has anything been going on this morning? I mean, any creepy guys shown up in the jungle wanting to kidnap teenagers and pregnant women?"

Claire smiled dryly. "Don't ask me. I've been here all morning." She sipped at water from the bottle next to the pond. "Hey, your friend's back."

"Who?" Michayla turned her head to see Boone enter the cave and begin rummaging around for something. "Where's _he_ been?"

Claire shrugged. "Dunno. He left this morning, with somebody else...umm...I think he was called John."

Michayla rolled her eyes. "Again? Apparently they've been doing that since the day we were kidnapped. I'm gonna go see what he's looking for." She stood and dashed across the cave.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked Boone, who jumped and got to his feet.

"Nothing," he said quickly, dusting off his hands. "What's that?" he asked, nodding to the camera in Michayla's hands.

"What's it look like?" she shot back, raising it so he could see. "Found a camera in the jungle. It works, too." She showed him the picture of herself and Claire as proof. "Hey, you should take a picture with me!"

Boone glanced at the cave entrance briefly, then back at Michayla. "You know, I've really got to - "

"Come on, real quick, please?" Michayla pressed him.

Boone heaved a short sigh. "Fine, okay." He put his arm around Michayla's shoulders, let her snap the photo, then stepped away. "I'll see you later, all right, Michayla?" he called over his shoulder as he left the cave.

Michayla watched him leave, eyebrows raised. "Fine, then, be that way," she said under her breath. She marched over to her bags, tucked the camera and her photos inside, then went back over to Claire. "Claire, you okay if I leave?"

Claire looked up at her. "Sure, but where are you going?"

Michayla grinned. "I wanna know what Boone and Locke are doing out there. I'm going to follow him."

Claire raised her eyebrows. "You're going to _follow_ him?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, I don't know, Michayla...be _careful_! You, of all people, know what's out there..."

"Don't worry, Claire, I'll be fine," she assured her. "You could go find Charlie and see what _he's_ been doing..."

Claire shook her head, saying with a small laugh. "Nah, I don't follow people just for the sake of it..."

Michayla shrugged. "Okay, but you don't know what you're missing...being nosy can be fun..."

Claire laughed again. "See you later, Michayla."

"Yeah, see you." Michayla picked up her backpack and stuck a bottle of water in it, then headed out of the caves.

The ground was muddy after yesterday's storm, so Boone's tracks were clear leading off in one direction. Michayla set off the same way. She'd been wondering for the past few days why, exactly, Locke and Boone had been in the jungle in the middle of the night she and Claire had escaped. She had a strong feeling that there was something they were keeping from the rest of the survivors, and Michayla wanted to know what and why. She'd always been a little nosy - when she was younger people had always had to tell her, "Curiosity killed the cat," but Michayla, at age seven, had not understood. What cat? Why did curiosity kill it? No, that had never stopped Michayla from sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

--

Michayla Jane Swanson was hopelessly lost in the jungle. Now the sun was setting and she had no idea where she was or which way to get back to the caves. Quite honestly she'd been wandering for almost an hour of not having a clue where she was going.

"Hello?" Michayla called out into the jungle, clutching the straps of her backpack. "Anybody around? Boone? Locke?"

Michayla now understood the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat." Michayla was the cat, and sooner or later Curiosity would come back around and kick her in the back of the leg.

The sun disappeared over the horizon and the jungle was plunged into darkness. _Crap, crap, crap_, Michayla thought, turning and blindly walking in another direction. Then she heard a sound so faint she could be sure she'd actually heard it - a whisper on the wind. Her heart began to pound. That old nightmare was back to haunt her again. She heard a whisper again, louder this time, then another - answering it? Soon there were whispers nearly surrounding her, and with a slight whimper, she turned and ran. The whispers were growing louder, seeming to follow her. Michayla continued running, at the same time straining her ears to hear what they were saying.

If Curiosity had a personification, this was surely it. Michayla, unable to escape the sounds, stopped and turned her head this way and that, looking for something - anything - anywhere she could get out of the jungle.

The whispers - they seemed to be getting closer. Pretty soon they'd catch up with her and then -

"AAH!" Michayla let out a scream as she turned her head to see a man holding a torch a few feet away from her. "Aah!"

"Michayla, don't worry, it's all right!" The figure reached out and put a hand on her shoulder - he seemed to diminish and Michayla realized who he was.

"Sayid?" she asked in a quavery voice. "What - what are you doing out here?"

Sayid tilted his head. "Looking for you. Claire told us you'd gone into the jungle hours ago and she was worried that you'd gotten lost. I see she was right?"

"Um...well, I guess so," Michayla said, embarrassed.

Sayid turned. "Come on. It's not terribly far to the caves." Michayla fell into step beside him. "What were you doing out here, Michayla?"

"Exploring." It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a complete lie either.

"You might explore a little closer to the camp next time," Sayid reprimanded her. "Why were you screaming when I found you?"

Michayla hesitated, unsure if Sayid would believe her. "I heard something."

Sayid stopped and turned to face her so quickly she nearly ran into him. "What did you hear?"

Michayla gaped at him for a moment before finally answering, "Whispers. Whispers all around me, getting louder and louder. That's why I screamed when I saw you. Why do you ask?"

"Because I've heard them, too," Sayid told her. "When I was hiking my way back from the French woman's camp, I heard whispers in the jungle."

"Could you hear them?" Michayla demanded. "Do you think it's - Them?"

"No, I couldn't hear them clearly - could you?"

"Not really," she admitted. "I tried to, and I may have caught a few words - but really, Sayid - do you think it's Them?"

"I don't know what it is," he said. "I thought at first my mind was playing tricks on me, but now you've heard it, and I suspect Sawyer has, too."

"Why would you suspect that?" Michayla asked as they continued walking.

"Because this morning, after he was attacked by a boar, he asked me what I'd heard," Sayid explained. "I asked him if he'd heard anything, but he didn't answer."

Michayla couldn't help letting out a giggle.

"What's funny?" Sayid asked.

"Sawyer was attacked by a _boar_?" she giggled. "That's too great!"

Sayid smiled slightly. "Come on. We're almost at the caves; everyone will want to know you're all right."

"Who _else_ was looking for me?" Michayla demanded.

"Jack went one way and Boone and Locke went another." Sayid started off, slightly ahead on Michayla. The caves were now in view and Michayla felt immensely comforted by the familiar sight.

"Sayid!" It was Jack, running up to them. "We've been all over, can't find her anywhere. You don't think - "

"It's all right, she's right here," Sayid cut Jack off, pulling Michayla forward.

"Oh, good." Jack looked relieved. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Michayla assured him. "Just got lost, that's all."

"Be careful, all right?" he said to her.

"Yeah," she answered grumpily. She hated everyone making a fuss over her. She followed Jack and Sayid into the caves, where she was greeted by several people who were relieved to find her alive. After repeatedly assuring everyone that she was fine, she crawled over to where she usually slept and was asleep in a few moments.

--

Michayla chewed on the end of her pen, trying to remember what she'd heard in the jungle the night before. Cautiously she wrote down a bit of what she remembered.

**Talk to her... No...not now... Special...different... the kid, the girl... Michayla...**

She paused in her writing. She was not entirely sure she'd heard her name - it could have been, as Sayid said, her mind playing tricks on her because she was scared and because of her nightmare of being surrounded by whispers. Everything else she'd written could have been completely made up as well - no way to know for sure.

"Whatcha writing?" Boone was coming up next to her.

"None of your business." She closed her diary. "Why aren't you out with your boyfriend today?"

Boone rolled his eyes. "Locke is out in the jungle, looking through the wreckage of the plane...Why were you out in the jungle yesterday?"

"Why were you?" Michayla shot back.

"None of _your_ business." Boone imitated her.

"Hmmf. Apparently not." She bit the end of her pen again. "Boone, do you mind leaving me alone for awhile? I'm trying to think some things over."

"Sure," Boone said too quickly. "See you later."

Michayla waited until he was gone, then flipped her diary open again.

_Talk to her, no, not now, special, different, the kid, the girl, Michayla..._

**A/N Hope it wasn't too bad! Please leave me a review!**


	15. The Raft

**A/N Woot, new chapter! I actually like this one quite a bit. And my writer's block is pretty much GONE, so expect a new chapter...pretty soon. I am pretty busy this summer, tho. Anyway, this is a fairly important chapter for Michayla, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Now really... if I owned Lost, would I really be writing a story with an added character? No. I'd just put her on the show and be done with it.**

**Chapter 15**

**In Translation**

**or**

**The Raft**

"So it's a raft?" Michayla asked, looking up at the structure Michael was working on.

"Yup," Michael replied cheerfully. "And it's gonna take a few of us off this island, so we can get everyone else rescued."

"That's awesome!" Michayla said with a genuine smile.

"Well, look who's down at the beach for a change!" Michayla turned to see Sawyer standing, hands on hips, a few feet away.

"Sawyer," Michayla acknowledged curtly.

"No more solo jungle excursions for you, huh, Xena?" Sawyer asked good-naturedly, going to help Michael tie a reed onto the raft.

"No, I don't think so," Michayla answered lightly. "Not today."

A sudden outburst from down the beach caught everyone's attention. Sun, the Korean woman, was wearing a bikini and her husband, apparently horrified, was yelling at her in rapid Korean as he tried to throw a towel around her.

"Son of a bitch," muttered Sawyer. "Give the girl a break..."

The man - Jin? - was trying to pull his wife away from the water, but she struggled to wrench her arm away from him and ended up being pulled to the ground.

"Hey!" yelled Michael, jumping down from the raft and running down the beach to the site of the commotion. "Hey, hey, leave her alone, man!" He tried to push Jin away from Sun, but Jin turned on him, continuing to yell in Korean. After a few more moments of confusion, Sun slapped Michael across the face sharply. He turned away, then stared at her in anger, before turning his back and heading back down the beach to the raft's construction site.

"You okay, Michael?" Michayla asked concernedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he muttered.

"Why did she hit you?" Michayla wondered aloud.

"I dunno, Michayla, I dunno."

Michayla shrugged sympathetically. "Hey, can I help with the raft at all? Do you need another hand?"

"Sure, you can help," Michael said with a smile. "Uh, why don't you help Sawyer bring the wood back down here?"

"Um..okay." Together she and Sawyer headed into the jungle, Sawyer leading her to a pile of bamboo he'd cut.

"Carry back whatever you can," Sawyer said, surprisingly politely.

"Did you cut all this down?" Michayla asked, lifting several branches.

"Sure did, Gingersnap," he answered with a grin. "Surprised?"

"A little." The two started back in silence, then Michayla broke it cautiously. "Sawyer?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you hear - in the jungle, I mean?"

Sawyer turned sharply to face her with a fierce expression. "Who said I heard anythin'?"

"Sayid did," Michayla answered, backing up a pace or two. "When he found me in the jungle the other night."

"Did you hear somethin'?" Sawyer asked, peering down at her closely.

"Yes - whispering."

Sawyer turned his head. "Yeah, so did I," he muttered.

"Sayid said he did too."

"He said he imagined it."

"Maybe he didn't," Michayla retorted. "Could you - _understand_ them?"

"The whisperin'?" Sawyer shrugged. "Not really, could you?"

"A little," Michayla admitted.

"Well, what did they say?" Sawyer demanded.

Michayla shrugged self-consciously. "I thought I heard my name," she said sheepishly.

"You thought you heard your name," Sawyer repeated skeptically.

"Knew you wouldn't believe me," Michayla muttered.

"Well, maybe you imagined that," Sawyer pointed out. "Come on, Mike's waitin' for us." He turned to go; Michayla took this to mean that their discussion of the whispers was over.

"So what made you decide to help with the raft?" Michayla asked curiously. The last time she'd really seen Sawyer he had been selfish and rude - she wondered what had caused the sudden change of heart.

"I'm gettin' off this island, sweetcheeks," he said with a grin.

Of course. "There's just got to be something in it for you, hasn't there?"

Sawyer laughed. "So what made _you_ decide - " he handed her a branch she'd dropped, " - to come down the the beach today?"

Michayla shrugged, surprised. "Nothing, really."

"I see. Thought you might be lookin' for your boyfriend again, that's all."

Michayla blinked, then furrowed her brow in confusion. "_Who_?"

"_You_ know."

"No, I really don't. Sawyer, what are you talking about?" Michayla was truly puzzled.

"What's-his-name." Sawyer appeared to be thinking. "He's friends with old Johnny Locke."

Oh. "_Boone_?" Michayla asked with a laugh. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Okay. If you say so." Sawyer seemed to be grinning.

"Don't laugh at me!" Michayla protested, trailing after him onto the beach. "What even makes you say he's my boyfriend?"

"He looks at you like he is," Sawyer said with a shrug.

"He does not," Michayla retorted. She was laughing again. "We're friends, I guess. I don't actually know him all that well."

Sawyer gave her another smirk as they reached the site of the raft. "You really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?" Michayla was grinning. The entire thing seemed like a joke. "There's nothing to see, Sawyer. _You're_ imagining things now."

"Okay. Okay. I'll stop talkin'. Obviously it's a touchy subject." Sawyer turned away, still smirking.

"Oh, good, you guys are back." Michael approached them, Walt trailing behind him. "Let's get these tied onto the raft."

"Looks like you're really making some progress." The three turned to see Jack standing on the beach behind them, nodding his head. "Looks good, Michael."

"Thanks, man." Michael grinned. "Might be ready to go soon - a week, maybe?"

"Good." Jack looked around at Sawyer. "You still going, Sawyer?"

"What, you still feelin' left out, Doc?" Sawyer smirked. "Yeah, I'm goin'. Nothin's gonna stop that."

"All right, all right." Jack looked exasperated as he walked up to the raft where Michayla was busily tying a bamboo stalk onto it. "How've you been feeling, Michayla?"

"Fine," Michayla answered lightly. "No psychic crap, no concussions...and ooh, I haven't been kidnapped for about a week, that's always good."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, that's always good. Just thought I'd check up on you, make sure nothing's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Michayla assured him.

"Good." Jack looked around. "I'll catch you guys later, okay? Stuff to take care of."

"See ya." Michayla waved to Jack as he headed down the beach. "Hey, Michael, mind if I run down to the caves? Grab my backpack and some water?"

"Yeah, sure." Michael waved her off. "Go ahead. Bring us some water."

"I will." Michayla hurried down the path the the caves to pick up her pack and a couple bottles of water. She nodded a quick hello to Kate, who was filling bottles with water at the pond, then headed back to the beach.

"Here you go, Michael," Michayla said, setting one of the water bottles next the the raft. She took the other bottle, headed a short ways down the beach, sat down, and pulled her diary out of her backpack.

**Dear Diary,**

**Looks like we might get out of here soon. Michael's building a raft - he's going to take Walt and Sawyer and they're going to head off and try and find... what? I'm not exactly sure what Michael's expecting to find out there, but if it means we get to go home, I'm all for it.**

**Talked to Sawyer this morning. Surprisingly, he was fairly civil. We were talking about those whispers I heard in the jungle - turns out he heard them too, the day before I did. He didn't believe me when I said I understood them, though, especially when I said I thought I heard my name. Hmmf. But the more I think about it, the more I'm sure - whoever was whispering in the jungle the other night did say my name, or something that sounded an awful lot like "Michayla"...but honestly, what sounds like "Michayla" but isn't? I don't know who else to ask about if. Jack would only put it off as some medical thing, like dehydration, or maybe fear causing my ears to play tricks on me. I suppose the only one who would talk to me seriously about it would be Sayid, but I don't know. I don't really want to bother anyone with it.**

**I hear someone coming.**

**-Michayla**

Michayla closed the diary with a clap as Boone came up and sat down next to her. "Yo," she said lightly. "You're at the beach."

"So are you," he pointed out.

"Unusual, isn't it?" Michayla commented. "I'm unpredictable."

Boone laughed. "Yeah."

"Look at this." Michayla waved her hand at the raft. "Michael's going to try and get us rescued."

"Yeah, I know, Shannon told me about it. It's a good idea."

"_Good_? I think it's a _great_ idea!" Michayla flopped back onto the sun-warmed sand, closing her eyes. "I want to go home."

"Back to the real world."

"Yup." Michayla sat up again, shaking sand out of her red hair. "So what _are_ you doing at the beach today?"

"Nothing, really. Saw you sitting here, thought I'd come talk."

"Okay. So talk to me." Michayla looked at him expectantly.

Boone laughed again. "Okay. About what?"

Michayla shrugged. "I don't know. Um...so, what's up with you in the real world, as you call it? Do you go to college or what?"

"No, actually, I help run my mom's business."

"You run a business?" Michayla asked skeptically, with a small laugh. "What kind of business?"

"It's a wedding thing." Boone shrugged it off. "What about you?"

"I don't run a business, if that's what you're asking," Michayla answered, crinkling her nose. "I go to school. I come home from school. I go to marching band. I play basketball. And that's my boring life," she finished with a grin.

"Doesn't sound that boring to me," Boone answered with a smile. "I didn't know you played basketball."

"Yup, I love it." She grinned again. "I made varsity as a sophomore - would have been _playing_ this month if not for the stupid crash." Now irritated, she drew her knees up to her chest and rested her arms on top of them, glaring at the ocean.

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Boone looked sympathetic.

"_That's_ for sure," she agreed grumpily. "Damn, I didn't even think about this before. I'm missing the start of _basketball_ season..."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks." She unfolded her arms and slapped the sand on either side of her. "Know what _I_ think?"

"What do you think?" Boone looked prepared to be surprised.

"_I_ bet when you were in junior high and high school you didn't play _any_ sports, and you were the kid who got teased and beat up every other day," she announced with a grin.

Boone gave her his crooked half-smile. "Funny."

"That wasn't a denial."

"I play tennis," Boone informed her.

"Ha! I bet you do," Michayla laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Boone demanded.

"Nothing. It's just - _tennis_." She snorted.

"You know what, I'll play you in tennis sometime," Boone promised. "You wouldn't be saying 'just tennis'."

"Little full of yourself, aren't you?" Michayla grinned. "The day you find a tennis court on this island will be the day I grow fins and _swim_ home."

"And the day a sixteen year old girl _beats_ me at tennis will be the day a person would actually want to live on this island," Boone retorted.

"Yeah? I think my bet's safer, actually."

"Boone!" Boone and Michayla turned their heads to see Locke coming up the beach towards them. "Spotted a boar in the jungle about five minutes ago - if we hurry, we can catch her. Come on!"

Boone gave an almost inaudible sigh. "See you later," he said to Michayla, getting to his feet and following Locke back into the jungle.

--

Michayla looked up at the sky, suddenly realized that the sun had set and she was still on the beach. She'd had a pretty good afternoon, playing with Walt and Vincent, and chatting with her friends, so she hadn't noticed the sun sinking below the horizon. Now it was dark, and the prospect of walking to the caves alone, through the jungle in the dark, was not an appealing one.

There was no way she could stay on the beach anyway, her blanket and pillow were at the caves, and her water bottle was empty.

The Michayla of two days ago would have been fine with this predicament, would have relished the adventure, but the Michayla of today was wary of the jungle, loath to get lost and hear the frightening whispers again. Before she could decide what to do, yelling from down the beach caught her attention.

Kate and Sun emerged from a tent, and Michayla saw Kate grab Charlie's shoulder as he ran by. "What's going on?" she asked urgently.

"The raft - it's on fire!" Charlie called over his shoulder as he ran to the site of the raft. Michayla turned and ran after him.

The raft was indeed ablaze. It appeared that everyone had arrived to late to save it. Michael seemed furious. He whirled on Sun and shouted, "Where is he?"

Sun, looking terrified, spoke in Korean.

"Michael, she doesn't understand." Kate tried to calm him, but Michael wouldn't listen.

"So, what, you won't tell me?" Michael yelled. "You trying to protect _him_ now?"

"Michael!" Michayla broke in. "Stop, leave her alone, she doesn't understand!"

Together Michayla and Kate pushed Michael away from Sun, leaving the young woman alone next to the burning raft. Michayla glanced back at her, and noticed how sad she looked. For a brief moment Michayla wondered what Sun's story was - why she would stay with her husband when he was obviously horrible to her. Then she lowered her head and continued helping to put out the fire.

--

"Hey." Long after the burning raft was put out, Michayla approached Boone, who was throwing wood on the signal fire.

"Hey," Boone replied. "What's up?"

"I dunno..." Michayla couldn't help glancing nervously at the dark jungle, not looking forward to the journey to the caves. "Did you help with the raft? I didn't see you..."

"Yeah, I was there, why?" Boone answered nonchalantly.

Michayla shrugged. "No reason."

Boone looked up at her, then moved closer to her, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_," she said sharply. "Are you going back to the caves tonight?"

Boone shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

Michayla glanced at the jungle. "You want to walk back with me? I mean - I'd go myself - I just don't really wanna..." She trailed off.

"What are you scared of?" Boone asked, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Who said I was scared of anything, I just...I'm _not_ scared," Michayla finished firmly.

Boone raised his eyebrows. "Okay then."

"You don't believe me. Look, Boone, I just don't want to go by myself, okay?" She bit her lip. "Please. Just walk back with me."

"Why?"

"Why do you care so much?" Michayla demanded. She snorted. "Why I don't want to be alone is none of your business. Just come with me. Please."

Boone put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I'm just trying to help you out. If you don't want to tell me - " he shrugged. "Your call, I guess."

Michayla sighed. "Last time I was in the jungle alone - after dark - I got lost. Couldn't find my way back to the caves at all. Then I heard these - these whispers in the jungle, surrounding me, following me. I was running around in the dark, couldn't get away from them. I wouldn't have made it back if Sayid hadn't found me."

Boone looked confused. "Whispers?" He gave a shrug. "What were they saying?"

"I don't know." She glanced at the dark jungle. "I think it might have been - you know - Them. The 'Others.'"

"You sure you really heard them? I mean, if it was dark and you were scared - "

Michayla cut him off snappishly. "You see! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you! I knew you wouldn't believe me!" With a groan of frustration, she turned away from him, then turned back. "God, I suppose you're going to tell me it was the wind playing tricks on me, or maybe a hallucination caused by dehydration?" she added scornfully.

Boone was lifting his hands in attempt to calm her down. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean I didn't believe you..."

"I don't want Them to take me again!" Michayla loudly blurted. "Okay? Are you happy now? I told you why I don't want to go alone now!" She stared up into his shocked face.

"Michayla - " Boone stepped closer to her, putting both his hands on her shoulders now.

"Ethan's dead, but who's to say They're not still out there?" Michayla babbled on, unable to stop herself now now that she'd finally begun. "Maybe They're watching us right now. Maybe there are more of Them in the camp, more who have infiltrated us!"

"Michayla, they will _not_ take you again," Boone assured her firmly, squeezing her shoulders gently.

"You don't know Them," Michayla mumbled. "You don't know what They're capable of."

"Maybe not, but I do know this," Boone cut in. "_No one_ is going to let them get anywhere near you or Claire again. Ever. You're _safe_ here. I promise."

"You can't promise that," Michayla said quietly.

"Hey." Boone smiled. "Don't worry."

"How can I _not worry_? It's me They were after!"

Boone looked at her gently, still smiling slightly. "Come here." And to Michayla's utter surprise, he pulled her closer to him and hugged her tightly. "You're gonna be fine," he said into her ear.

Michayla, who had initially stiffened in shock, awkwardly wrapped her arms around his neck, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, the other hand in her hair. After a moment of standing like this, Michayla spotted Sayid approaching them from over Boone's shoulder. Quickly she let go of him.

"I - I'm sorry," she said uncertainly. "Um - you know what, you were right, I'm gonna head back to the caves, okay? I think - I guess I can make it myself." As she spoke, she was backing away.

"Michayla, what's the _matter_?" Boone, looking concerned, took a step after her.

"Look, I'm sorry - I should probably get back - get some sleep - um, see you tomorrow." She turned away and started off down the beach. She heard Sayid walking up to Boone.

"I'm sorry - did I interrupt something?" Sayid sounded apologetic.

"No." There was a clatter and a hiss as more wood was thrown onto the fire. "No, it was nothing."

Michayla shook her head and walked on, prepared to brave the darkness of the jungle rather than deal with her demons on the beach.

**Dear Diary,**

**After someone burned the raft tonight, the weirdness was not to end there. Oh, no. I went to ask Boone to come walk back to the caves with me and...well, I'm really not sure what happened. I don't know. I can't even think straight right now, let alone put it down in words in my diary. I'm so messed up at the moment. I don't know what I'm doing, what happened down at the beach, what's going to happen next time I see Boone (and it's gonna be awful hard to avoid him, except when he's out in the jungle with Locke)...**

**Good old Cassie...she would have had some advice for me. She always had some advice for me...whether it was any good, remains to be seen. Ha. Ha. Anyway, when Michayla can't think straight, that usually means it's time for Cass to step in, but she's not even here. What am I supposed to do now? I wish she was here.**

**Wait...scratch that last. I wish Cassie and I were together anywhere but here.**

**Ugh...expect me to write again after I figure out what the hell is going on.**

**-A very confused Michayla**

--

Michayla slept late the next morning. She was awakened when Shannon came storming angrily into the caves. Yawning, Michayla vaguely wondered what she was so mad about, before getting up and filling a bottle with water at the spring.

A few moments later, Shannon stomped over to Michayla. "Have you seen my brother anywhere?" she spat.

"Boone? No." Michayla shrugged. "I just woke up. He's probably with Locke somewhere."

Shannon was fuming. "Well, if you see him - tell him if he's got a problem with me, he can leave Sayid out of it and say it to my face!"

Michayla had noticed that Shannon and Sayid had been growing closer lately. Boone, it seemed to Michayla, had always been a little overprotective of his sister. "I'll be sure to tell him, if I see him." Michayla thought for a moment. "But I'm not really planning on it. Oh, and if _you_ see him, Shannon - tell him to leave me alone, okay? I'm not ready to talk to him."

"Why? Has he been bugging you, too?" Shannon's anger had not left her.

Michayla smiled thinly. "Um...sort of. I don't know."

"God, I'm sorry." Shannon turned and stalked out of the caves to continue hunting for her brother.

Michayla picked up a bottle of water and headed out of the caves, going in the opposite direction of the path Shannon had taken. Carefully she made her way to the beach and over to the site of the burned raft, where Michael sat forlornly with his son.

"Hey," Michayla said, sitting down next to them and looking at the burned skeleton that was what was left of the raft Michael had worked so hard on.

"Hey, Michayla," Michael answered glumly, putting his hand on Walt's shoulder.

Michayla nodded at the raft. "Anything salvageable?

"No! Nothing!" Michael looked angry. "It's completely ruined! I'll have to start all over again!"

Michayla sighed. "Do you know how it got set on fire - who did it?"

"Jin," Michael said firmly. "Who else would burn the thing? Who else has a problem with me?"

Michayla was not entirely convinced that the Korean man would have any reason to burn the raft - surely he wanted them to get off the island? - but before Michayla could attempt to convince Michael otherwise, a disturbance down the beach caught her eye.

Sawyer had Jin's hands tied in front of him, and was pulling him along by the rope. With a growl, Michael leapt to his feet and ran down to them, Michayla and Walt following apprehensively.

"Why'd you burn my raft, man?" Michael shouted at Jin. "Huh? Why'd you burn it?"

People were running - Jack, Sayid, Charlie - and Sun was standing alone on the beach, watching Michael yell at her husband, a twisted, saddened expression on her face.

"Hey, Michael, take it easy." Jack attempted to calm Michael.

"Yeah, slow down, man, chill out!" Hurley chimed in.

"Back off!" Sawyer growled. "This has nothin' to do with you two. It's _his_ fight."

Michayla stood on the very edge of the crowd, wide-eyed and so overwhelmed by what was going on, all other worries were chased from her mind.

Jin looked over Michael's shoulder at his wife, then said something in Korean. Michael whirled on her.

"What'd he say?" he demanded. "He say something to me?"

"Michael!" Jack put a hand on his shoulder.

"Say it again, man!" Michael shouted. "Say it again!"

Jin spoke in Korean. Michael punched him in the face. Michayla leapt backward.

Jin slowly got to his feet and spoke again. Michael punched him again, and prepared for a third time -

"STOP IT!" An unfamiliar, accented voice rang out across the beach. Michayla turned to see who had spoken, but saw only Sun. She glanced around again, but then saw Sun speak again.

"He didn't burn your raft." There was no doubt - Sun could speak English.

"You speak English?" Charlie asked incredulously.

Sun ignored everyone's exclamations of shock. "My husband is _not_ a liar!" she insisted.

Sawyer snorted in disbelief. "You gonna lecture us about lyin', Betty? How do we know she ain't coverin' for him?"

"She's not," another voice stated. Locke was there now - Michayla quickly checked to see if Boone was around. He was nowhere insight. Michayla hadn't noticed that her muscles had tensed until she relaxed.

"Why would he burn the raft?" Locke demanded. "We're all so intent on pointing fingers at each other, we forget that the real problem is out _there_!" He pointed dramatically at the jungle. Michayla, shuddering, knew exactly what he was talking about. "_They've_ attacked us - sabotaged us - abducted us - _murdered_ us! Let's stop blaming each other, and start worrying about _Them_! We're not the only people on this island and we _all_ know it!" With a huff, Locke turned and headed towards the jungle.

Michael turned back to Sun.

"He did _not_ do it," Sun repeated tearfully.

With the commotion ended, everyone was headed away from the beach. Michayla picked up her water bottle and followed suit.

Walking down the path to the caves, Michayla passed Locke on his was into the jungle.

"Michayla, Boone was looking for you earlier," Locke mentioned as she passed.

Michayla stopped walking. "Where is he now?"

Locke shrugged. "Not sure. I think he was headed back to the beach if you want to catch him."

Michayla shook her head. "No...not really."

Locke shrugged again. "Suit yourself."

"See you later, Locke," Michayla said as she continued to the caves.

--

That night, Michayla lay in her makeshift bed and watched Boone enter the cave. She saw him glance around, obviously looking for someone, and she rolled over so she faced the wall, covering herself with the blanket.

_Please don't talk to me. Please leave me alone_, she begged silently. After a few moments, she chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw Boone leaving the caves.

_Thank you. _Michayla rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, hoping to escape the world in the realm of sleep.

**A/N Reviews are appreciated!**


	16. The Escape

**A/N Gah...I'm sorry you had to wait so long for another chapter that's basically filler. I've been super busy lately, so I'm not even going to try and promise the next chapter will be done sooner, lol. I hope you enjoy this one, I got to write more Charlie-ness in this chapter, which was fun cuz I hadn't written him for awhile, haha.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. If I did, Claire would be off the island with her baby.**

**Chapter 16**

**Numbers**

**or**

**The Escape**

"Hey, Michayla." Hurley crouched next to her as she filled bottles with water from the spring in the caves.

"Hey, Hurley," she replied, setting two bottles down. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothin'. Just thought I'd grab some water and go for a walk," Hurley said nonchalantly.

Michayla shrugged. "Okay. Go ahead."

Hurley didn't move.

Michayla raised an eyebrow. "Hurley..."

"I kinda need a few bottles," he said uncomfortably. "I get dehydrated easy."

Michayla, eyebrow still raised, picked up three bottles and set them in front of Hurley. "Take what you need, Hurley. I'm not the keeper of the water."

"Okay, cool!" Hurley scrambled to shove several bottles of water into his bag, then, standing to leave, found himself blocked by Charlie.

"Where you going, mate?" Charlie asked.

Hurley shrugged. "Just thought I'd take a walk."

"Well, hold up, I'll come with you - " Charlie made as if to go for his things.

"No!" Hurley quickly interjected. "I kinda need some alone time." He strode off past Charlie, who exchanged a look with Michayla.

"What the bloody hell is he on about?" Charlie asked, coming to sit next to Michayla.

Michayla shrugged. "No idea."

Charlie shrugged back. "Ah well." He leaned back against the rock wall. "So how are you this fine morning?"

"Pretty good," Michayla sighed. "And yourself?"

"Just fine," he answered with a grin.

Michayla grinned back. "How are things with Claire, then?"

"Excellent, excellent, thank you for asking."

Michayla smiled more broadly. "We haven't talked much lately, have we, Charlie?"

"No, I suppose not," he replied, wrinkling his brow. "How's life?"



Michayla shrugged with one shoulder. "Okay."

"That's better than bloody terrible, at least," Charlie pointed out.

Michayla laughed. "Yeah, there is that."

A disturbance at the entrance of the caves caused the two friends to look up. Sayid and Jack were arguing heatedly.

"What makes this even _worse_," Sayid was growling, "is that you didn't even do your own dirty work. You had to get _Hurley_ to do it for you!"

"Whoa, wait a minute, Sayid." Jack lifted his hands. "Hurley?"

Charlie glanced at Michayla

"He came into my tent last night, questioning me about Rousseau, how I came to find her - " Sayid stopped at the look on Jack's face. "You have no idea what I'm talking about."

Jack shook his head, then made his way over to Michayla and Charlie. "Have you two seen Hurley anywhere?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago," Charlie responded. "He was setting out for a walk - acting like a bloody _loon_, I might add."

Jack straightened up. "Come on, we need to go after him," he said to Sayid.

"I'll come," Charlie instantly added.

"And me," Michayla jumped in.

Sayid gave her a look. "Michayla - "

"Sayid, please!" Michayla stared back at him. "Let me get my stuff, I want to help."

Jack and Sayid exchanged a look with each other. "Meet you on the beach in fifteen minutes," Jack said firmly. "If you're not there, we're leaving without you. We need to catch Hurley."

"Great, thanks!" She dashed off to find her backpack.

--

A few minutes later, Michayla swung her backpack onto her back and started walking down to the beach to meet Charlie, Jack, and Sayid. With a twinge of annoyance, she noticed Boone coming up the path, heading in her direction. Quickly she tried to duck off into the jungle, intending to find an alternate route.

"Michayla!"

She closed her eyes. Too late. After avoiding him for two days, he had to choose this moment to talk to her. "What?" she called back resignedly.

Boone walked up to her. His eyes took in the backpack over her shoulders. "Where're you going?"

"With Jack, Sayid, and Charlie," she replied, busying herself with adjusting the backpack's straps. "Hurley went off to find that French lady - we're going to go find him before he gets hurt or something."

Boone stared at her. "Why are _you_ going?"

"Um, because I can? I don't want to stay around the camp forever, so if you'll excuse me - " Michayla made to slip past him, but he grabbed her wrist, keeping her there.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"What was what about?" she asked, not meeting his eyes.

"_You_ know. The thing the other night, with you running off to the caves - "

"Look, I don't know, Boone, so please let go of me - "

"No, listen, talk to me." He stared down at her, his hand still around her wrist. "Why did you run?"

"I didn't run!" Michayla protested. "I - I didn't want to make you go all the way back to the caves, all right? I figured I ought to just go by myself." She tried to yank her arm away.

Boone shook his head slowly. "That's not why."

"Really, Boone? 'Cause I think that's why, and if you think you know me better than I do - "

"I think you were just trying to get away from me," Boone overrode her, "and I just want to know why."

"I don't know why!" Michayla turned her face away. "Look, it's - I don't really know you. I met you not even two months ago and I was kidnapped for ten days - I don't even know your last name."

"It's Carlyle."

"Carlyle," Michayla repeated. "Okay. Mine's Swanson."

"I know."

"Oh." She sighed. "Okay, Boone, I really, really don't want to talk about this right now, so please let go of me now and I'll see you later."

Boone dropped her wrist. "But you can't go off into the jungle again."

"And why the hell not?" she snapped.

"Remember the last two times you went into the jungle by yourself?"

"I'm not even going by _myself_, Boone," she groaned. "Jack, Sayid, and Charlie are all going, and they're probably waiting for me down at the beach."

"I don't want you getting hurt or kidnapped again!"

"I won't be!" growled Michayla.

"You're sixteen!" Boone reminded her angrily.

"And you're - what? Twenty-two?" Michayla watched the effect her words had on him.

Boone's face tightened. "I'm just trying to - "



With a burst of anger, Michayla slapped Boone across the face. It wasn't hard enough to really hurt, but Boone took a step backward and glared at her. "What the _hell_ was _that_ for?"

"You're not my _dad_!" Michayla snapped. "You're not my _brother_! You don't even know me! So stop trying to take care of me! I don't like it!"

"You don't _like_ being cared about, okay, fine, I won't come after you next time you get yourself into trouble - "

"Just _back off_, Boone, okay, I never asked for your help, and I never wanted it in the first place!"

"You're going to get in trouble again, and I'm not going to come and get you out of it - "

"Good! I don't want you to!"

"Then go!" he shouted. "Go enjoy your hike!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

With a last glare at her, Boone shoved Michayla none too gently out of his way, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.

"OI!" Michayla heard hurried footsteps behind her - Charlie was running up the path. He put his hand on Michayla's shoulder to steady her. "What the bloody hell's your problem?" he yelled after Boone, who didn't respond. Charlie turned to Michayla. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Michayla answered, her ears reddening with embarrassment.

"You sure?"

"_Yes_," she repeated sharply.

Charlie looked unconvinced. "All right," he said reluctantly. "Still coming with us? Jack and Sayid've been wondering where you were."

"Yup, I'm coming." Michayla hitched her backpack higher onto her shoulders. "Let's go." She started down the path, keeping slightly ahead of Charlie.

Charlie caught up with her. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing."

"Didn't _look_ like nothing." Charlie persisted.

"With all due respect, Charlie," Michayla said, turning to face him, "it's none of your business. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to drop it and leave it alone now, please."

Charlie shrugged. "If you say so," he replied uncertainly.

Michayla changed the subject. "I'm excited to be going off with you guys," she said matter-of-factly. "It'll be like the good old days."



"The good old days?"

"You know...before Claire and I got kidnapped and everyone got paranoid," Michayla explained.

"Right," Charlie answered, furrowing his brow as they reached Jack and Sayid.

"Ready?" Jack asked. "Let's get going."

"How does he think he's going to find the French woman?" Michayla asked as they started down the beach.

"When I escaped from her, I managed to take several of her papers, including maps," Sayid explained. "Hurley was in my tent last night - he took one of the maps."

"What would he want with those?" Michayla asked, furrowing her brow.

"I don't know," Sayid answered with a shrug. "He was very curious about several numbers she had written over and over."

"Huh. That's weird," Michayla commented.

"He's out of his head," Charlie interjected. "Been in the sun too long, if you ask me."

"Charlie!" Jack snapped in annoyance. "Can we please just keep going?"

"Okay. Someone's a little on edge..." he added in an undertone so only Michayla heard.

Before long, the four of them came across a wire on the beach. Sayid picked it up. "This is the wire that first led me to Rousseau. By the tracks around it, it appears that Hurley found it." He began into the jungle. "Come on." Michayla, Jack, and Charlie followed him.

A short ways into the jungle, they could see Hurley standing, bent over something. Sayid clicked his tongue, then dashed rapidly over to him. "Don't move!" he hissed urgently.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Hurley demanded.

"You're standing on one of Rousseau's traps," Sayid proceeded, ignoring the question as the other three emerged from the trees behind him. Hurley looked surprised to see them all. "If you move, _that_ will come down." Sayid pointed to a contraption of spears perched in a treetop.

"Hurley!" Charlie appeared alarmed. "Don't move, mate, we'll get you out of there!"

Hurley eyed the spikes. "I can make it if I jump for it."

Sayid ignored him again. "We need find something to replace his weight."

"How're we gonna do that?" Charlie demanded.

"Charlie!" Michayla reprimanded him.

"I'm sorry, but look at him - "

"I'm telling you I can make it!" Hurley insisted. "I'm spry!" There was a pause. "I'm gonna go for it."

"Hurley - !" Jack's exclamation was too late. Hurley leapt off the trap and dove to the ground. The spikes narrowly missed him.

After the initial shock, everyone had recovered enough to question Hurley. "Hurley, what the bloody hell's wrong with you?" Charlie yelled.

"Nothing!" Hurley snapped back.

"We were worried, Hurley," Michayla told him.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"What the hell are you doing out here, man?" Jack asked irritably.

"I wanted to get a battery," Hurley explained.

Silence. "A battery?" questioned Michayla.

"Yeah. You see, my CD player died..."

"Seriously, what's going on?" Jack asked concernedly.

Hurley shrugged. "Nothing. You guys coming?"

"I will," Michayla volunteered.

"Cool, anyone else?" Hurley looked around.

Sayid looked irritable. "You all want to go? Fine...perhaps I should take the lead."

"Good idea," Michayla agreed. "Do you remember how to get to that French lady's..." Michayla searched for the right word, "...house?"

"Well enough." Sayid led the way through the undergrowth. The rest followed, Hurley seeming upset.

"What's up, Hurley?" Michayla asked curiously.

"You guys didn't have to come out here, dude," Hurley muttered.

"What were we supposed to do, Hurley?" Charlie, who had been listening, asked angrily. "You run off by yourself, acting like a bloody nutter, and we weren't supposed to notice?"

"No, you weren't supposed to notice!" Hurley responded as angrily. "I was fine - you didn't have to come!" Michayla felt a wave of affection for Hurley - his words echoed those that she had uttered so many times since she'd landed on the island. She knew how it felt to want to be alone and to have no one believe that you could be on your own.

"Well, we did come, so you might as well get used to it, mate, because there's no point in turning back now," Charlie said, patting Hurley's shoulder as he passed him.

Michayla gave Hurley a small smile. "Hey, I'm sorry I came Hurley," she admitted. "I get where you're coming from."

"It's cool, dude," Hurley muttered, continuing ahead. "No big deal."

"Stop." Sayid had halted in front of them - as Michayla moved forward, she realized why.



"Whoa," she said, taking a step backward. They were standing on the edge of a deep gorge, a rickety rope bridge stretching across it.

"I have never seen this before," Sayid informed them.

"Did we go the wrong way?" Michayla asked.

"Apparently," Sayid sighed. "I suppose we'll have to turn around and - "

"Hurley, wait!" Jack interrupted. "What are you doing?"

Hurley had begun crossing the bridge. "Relax, I'm just going to check it out!"

"Hurley - " Michayla started.

"Dudes, chill!" Hurley commanded. "It's okay!"

The four on the side of the gorge watched Hurley helplessly for a moment, until Charlie began crossing. "Charlie!"

"Hey - " Charlie lowered his voice. "If _he_ can do it..."

When Charlie was about three-quarters of the way across the rope bridge Michayla started. "Michayla, for God's sake get back here!" Jack shouted, growing irritated.

"Look, they both made it just fine - " Then the bridge began to collapse. With a yelp, Michayla clung to the wooden slats and prayed that the bridge, which had broken in the middle, would stay attached to the side. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Hurley heaving Charlie onto solid ground across the gorge.

Strong hands seized Michayla by the wrists and pulled her upward - Sayid and Jack lifted Michayla to safety. "Are you all right?" Sayid asked urgently.

"Yeah, fine," Michayla answered, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. "Charlie, are you okay?" she called across.

"Yeah!" Charlie seemed a little shaken, but glad to be alive. "Whoo! We made it!"

"All right, you guys stay there, we're gonna find a way around this thing!" Jack called to them.

"No, dudes, you stay there, we'll keep going, there's a path here!"

"Hurley, would you shut up and listen to him?" Charlie demanded. "You're acting like a lunatic!"

"Look, there's no need to fight about it!" Jack lifted a hand to forestall argument. "We'll try and find Rousseau - you guys try and find a way back around the gorge, got it? And be _careful_!" he added as an afterthought.

"Cool!" Hurley called happily. "See you later!"

Both groups set off in opposite directions on either side of the gorge.

"Do you know where we're going?" Jack demanded of Sayid, who was leading.

Sayid seemed to be in an irritable mood. "I have an idea, yes. We can keep going this way and eventually we should find something that tells me where we are." His eyes glinted in a way that warned Jack and Michayla not to try and retaliate.

"Should we split up, do you think?" Michayla asked, whacking a branch out of her way. "A couple of us could go look for Charlie and Hurley, and - "

"No one's splitting up," Michayla," Jack said sharply. "We've seen what can happen in the jungle."

"Jack's right," Sayid agreed. "We're much safer together." They walked on a short ways, then Sayid lifted a hand. "Wait."

"What?" Jack asked.

Sayid waved his hand around at the trees. "This area is familiar. We're close."

"I thought she lived underground?" Jack started forward; Sayid and Michayla both noticed the trip wire on the ground before Jack did. Sayid made a lunge for him, but Jack's foot caught the wire and there was an explosion that threw all three of them backward.

Coughing, Michayla was helped to her feet by Sayid. They stood before a large crater in the ground.

Sayid stared down at it. "This is where Rousseau lived. She must have known I'd be back one day - back with others. So she abandoned this place, booby-trapped it, and moved on."

"Moved on where?" Jack demanded.

Sayid shrugged. "I don't know. There's nothing more we can do, so I suggest we make camp and wait for Hurley and Charlie." He slung his pack to the ground, tossed a bottle of water to Michayla and started gathering wood for a fire.

Jack seemed restless. "We need to find Charlie and Hurley and get out of the jungle. I just hate to go back empty-handed..."

"We came out here to get Hurley back safe, Jack," Michayla pointed out. "What else did you expect to find?"

Jack shrugged. "Answers."

"Hey, hey!" a familiar voice called out. Charlie dashed out of the jungle, panting. "Someone _shot_ at us, Hurley and me, we were looking for you and - "

"Who shot at you?" Michayla asked nervously, standing.

"I dunno, I - "

"Where's Hurley?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know!" Charlie repeated, agitated. "He was right behind me and then he just wasn't!"

Jack turned to Sayid and approached him. "We need to go find him," he said firmly.

"I'll go." Sayid picked up his bag.

"Go where?" Hurley wandered out of the jungle, looking perfectly calm.

"Hurley, where'd you go?" Charlie asked.

Hurley ignored him. He pulled a battery out of his bag and handed it to Sayid. "She says hey."

Sayid stared at the battery, then looked back up at Hurley. "You met Rousseau?"

"Yup, sure did, dude," Hurley said. "She's not so bad, the French chick."

--

Charlie and Michayla sat next to a fire at the beach. Charlie heaved a sigh, laying down on his back. "_Insane_ day."

"That's for sure," Michayla agreed, glancing around at the beach.

Charlie propped himself up. "What're you looking for?"

Michayla looked back at Charlie, eyebrows raised. "What? Nothing."

Charlie shrugged and dropped it. He tilted his head towards Hurley, was was sitting at a fire several yards away, drying his shirt on a stick over the heat from the flames. "Does he strike you as a nutter?"

"Hurley?" Michayla furrowed her eyebrows. "Not really, why?"

"I dunno, you should have heard him out in the jungle today, acting like a complete madman!" He sat up, drawing his knees to his chest and tapping his chin. "Wish I knew what his problem was, I mean, we're mates, but I don't know anything _about_ him."

Michayla snorted. "Don't I know that feeling." She turned to Charlie and grinned. "I'm glad we're friends. Thanks."

Charlie looked bemused. "Yeah - yeah, anytime, mate." He glanced at the jungle. "'S'dark now, you going back to the caves?"

Michayla nodded. "As always." She stood. "Night, Charlie."

"Night, Michayla," Charlie called over his shoulder; he had already began making his way over to Hurley.

Michayla gave him another smile and turned to the darkened jungle. The darkness did not scare her anymore.

**A/N Reviews are appreciated!**


	17. The Airplane

**A/N I really must apologize with how long it's been taking me to update. I've been very, very busy with school, the holidays, and other projects I've been working on, and I am a stupidly slow writer. I am, however, commited to finishing Michayla's journey through the first season of Lost. :-) We'll see how it goes - there may or may not be a sequel. Anyway, here's chapter seventeen, a bit of a filler, but the next chapter will probably be a long one, since it'll take place in Do No Harm - and we know what takes place in Do No Harm. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and reviews do make me very happy!**

**Disclaimer: you know the drill, I don't own Lost. If I did, there would be a great many fans angry at me. XD**

**Chapter 17**

**Deus Ex Machina**

**or**

**The Airplane**

"Michayla. Michayla, wake up."

Michayla woke with a start. "What?" she yelped, glancing wildly around her. Boone was kneeling next to her. "What do you want?" she demanded, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. She peered outside the caves and noted the position of the sun. "The sun's barely up - what's going on?" Michayla was concerned now; why had he waken her so early? No one got up this early. No one other than Boone and Locke, that is.

"Sorry I woke you," Boone said apologetically. "I came down here before going hunting with Locke just to see if you were awake - only I saw you sleeping and you - well, you looked like you were having a nightmare. Are you okay?"

Michayla blinked, trying to remember what she'd been dreaming about. "I'm fine," she said faintly. "I've had worse dreams." The details of her dream were fading - all she could remember was being in the jungle.

"Oh. Sorry I woke you up then."

Michayla shrugged, feeling indifferent. "Did you want something?" she asked coolly.

Boone looked uncomfortable. "I wanted to apologize."

Michayla scooted closer to him, sitting cross-legged. "For what?"

"It's not my place to tell you what to do," he said, avoiding her eyes. "I wasn't nice about it. I'm sorry."

Michayla blinked at him. "You had to say this at the crack of dawn?"

"Well, apparently, it's the only time I have any sort of chance to talk to you, since you won't go near me any other time," Boone pointed out.

Michayla tilted her head, not answering him.

"What are you thinking?" Boone asked.

"I don't know," Michayla replied in bewilderment. "I don't know - just trying to get my thoughts in order, I guess..." She rested her elbows on her knees, rubbing her forehead.

"Well, look, if you want to go back to sleep - "

"No, I'm fine." Michayla shook her head a little, trying to clear her thoughts and sort out what she was feeling. Thinking back to the night Boone had hugged her on the beach, all she could remember was confusion. She hadn't known what to do - so she ran, pretty much. Then the last time they'd spoken - well, Michayla had been angry. Fury, pure and simple. She could very clearly remember thinking, _who is he to tell me what to do? Who is he to act like he knows me and what's best for me? He's not my dad.... _Michayla shuddered slightly. She hated thinking back to that - losing control was not something Michayla enjoyed - something she'd generally avoided her entire life.

What about now? _What am I thinking now?_ "I don't think I'm mad at you anymore," she said slowly, finally looking back up at Boone, who had been sitting next to her patiently. "So....it's okay. Um...apology accepted, I guess." Michayla ducked her head in embarrassment. Deep conversations were not her strong point either. "I think I overreacted that day, too. I'm really sorry I yelled at you. And that I hit you."

"Hey." Boone shrugged. "It's okay. I get where you were coming from." He shrugged again. "You're sixteen. You don't need someone to look after you."

"You don't believe that." Michayla folded her arms and tilted her chin out, knowing what she said was true.

"No," Boone replied with a small laugh. "But you do. I guess I'll have to trust your judgment. You know yourself better than I do."

"Do I?" The words slipped out before Michayla thought about it.

Boone raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Michayla shook her head. "Nothing, just....just those weird vision-thingies I started having when They took me." She shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Boone smiled. "I think you'll figure things out....one way or another. You're smart enough." He held out his hand. "Are we friends again, then?"

Michayla reached over and grasped his hand with hers. "Of course. Let's put all stupidness behind us." She grinned; Boone gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.

Boone glanced over his shoulder. Locke was waiting at the entrance to the caves. He sighed. "I should go."

Michayla raised her eyebrows. "What's the point of hunting if you suck at it?"

Boone looked at her, appearing amused. "Who said we suck at it?"

"Well, you never bring any boars back...so why go?" Michayla asked. "You could stay and have fun for a change."

He shook his head. "Nah - can't. This is more important." Boone placed his hand on her shoulder, grinning. "I'll tell you about it later."

"'Kay." Michayla shrugged. "Have fun."

"See you later." He squeezed her shoulder gently, then stood and followed Locke out of the caves.

----

"Oi, Michayla!" Charlie called, walking into the caves later in the morning.

"Oi, Charlie," Michayla shot back from beside the pond, where she'd been using a wet rag to wash her face.

He came over and crouched next to her. "Hurley and me were going to go out of the golf course. Claire's going to come too. 'Course, she won't play, she'll just watch, but thought I'd see if you'd like to come play..." Charlie shrugged. "You've looked like you could use some cheering."

Michayla smiled. "Sure." She stood and followed Charlie out of the caves. "How's Claire been?"

"Good; she's good," Charlie responded as they made their way to the golf course. "Somewhat less traumatized nowadays, you know...."

Michayla laughed. "I understand _that_."

Charlie gave her a look. "You're remarkably chipper this morning, what's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me?" Michayla raised her eyebrows. "I need a reason to be happy?"

"No, no, I'm glad you are," Charlie said. "Just that most of us were rather accustomed to seeing you mope the days away and jump at sudden noises, you know..." They were coming over the hill to the course; Hurley was visible standing next to the first hole, Claire sitting on the ground nearby.

"Yo, Charlie!" Hurley bellowed. "About time!"

"Sorry, mate!" Charlie called back as they approached the course. He jabbed his thumb towards Michayla. "I picked up another player."

"Cool," Hurley said happily. "We can have like a mini tournament."

Michayla sat down on the grass next to Claire, letting Charlie and Hurley take their turns first. "Hi, Claire," she said happily. "How's it going?"

"You mean despite the fact that I can hardly even walk on my own?" she answered with a smile. "Yeah, I'm all right, and yourself?"

"Pretty good." Michayla watched Claire run a hand over her round stomach. "Are you nervous?" Michayla blurted. "For when the baby comes?"

Claire shrugged. "Try not to think about it mostly, I guess. Haven't even _thought_ about how I'll manage to take care of him. I mean, none of us thought we'd be here this long, did we?"

"No, not really," Michayla agreed. "Still....things could be worse."

Claire laughed lightly. "You're such an optimist. Nice to have one around."

"Michayla!" Charlie tossed her a golf club. "Your turn."

Michayla made a face and got to her feet. "I suck. Do you remember that?"

"Vaguely. But we won't made fun of you," Charlie promised earnestly.

Michayla sighed, setting herself up to hit the golf ball, and swung the club as hard as she could. It flew through the air, landing several yards beyond the hole.

Hurley whistled. "Wow."

Michayla wrinkled her nose. "I'll go over there and get ready for my next turn." She hefted the golf club over her shoulder and marched across the field to find her ball.

She finally discovered it hiding in a clump of long grass not far from the edge of the jungle. She peered into the trees, wondering if she could spot Locke and Boone and their so-called boar-hunting. After confirming that they were not in sight, she sat down in the tall grass, arms wrapped around her knees and wondering what on earth Locke and Boone were possibly doing in the jungle - because everyone knew they hadn't caught any boar in ages. Besides, they were both awfully secretive about it. Michayla tucked her hair behind her ear and squinted, watching Charlie hit his golf ball some distance away.

An image of a small yellow airplane perched on a cliff flashed through her mind's eye. She blinked in surprise. What was that? She'd never seen that little yellow plane before in her life. Weird. It couldn't be - no, it couldn't. She hadn't had one of those visions since she escaped from Ethan - even the nightmares had stopped.

"MICHAYLA!" Michayla jumped as she heard both Hurley and Charlie bellowing her name. "_Hit the ball!_"

Giggling, Michayla got to her feet and whacked haphazardly at the golf ball, which flew through the air and landed neatly next to the hole, much to Michayla's surprise. She jogged all the way back to the hole, panting slightly when she reached them.

"You lost, dude," Hurley informed her. "Me and Charlie already got ours in. Sorry."

"It's okay, I don't care." Michayla took a final swing at her golf ball, which rolled straight into the hole. "Game over."

----

After playing a couple more rounds of golf, Michayla and Hurley headed back to the beach, Charlie lagging behind since he stayed to help Claire. As they reached the beach, Hurley suddenly chuckled in amusement.

"What?" Michayla asked, bewildered.

Hurley pointed to Sawyer and Kate. Sawyer was wearing glasses - a pair of rather oddly constructed glasses. "Looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter," Hurley commented nonchalantly as they passed Sawyer, who quickly yanked the glasses off his face, much to Kate's amusement.

Michayla waved goodbye to Hurley and made her way over to Sawyer. "Hi, Sawyer." He glared at her.

"Sawyer's being a baby," Kate told her, hiding a smile. Sawyer turned his glare on her. "Oh, come on, you don't look that bad."

"Whatever," Sawyer mumbled, standing and heading back to his tent. Michayla followed him. "What do you want?" he growled at her.

"A book," she answered cheerfully. "I've read all mine."

Sawyer's eyes widened. "It ain't a library, princess!"

"Aw, Sawyer. Please?" She attempted to look sad.

Sawyer groaned. "Come on, then," he muttered. Michayla followed him into his tent and dove for a stack of books, grabbing the first one that came to hand. "_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_," she read. "Hey, is Sawyer your _last_ name?"

"No, it ain't," Sawyer said, picking up his own book - _A Wrinkle in Time_. "It ain't my last name."

"It's your first name, then?"

Sawyer glared at her. "Find yourself a book and get out so I can read!"

Michayla shuffled through his stack of book, dropping _Lord of the Flies_ as quickly as she had run across it. "So if Sawyer's not your name, why do people call you that?"

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "I didn't say it wasn't my name, just that it wasn't my _last_ name!"

"Well, I guessed." Michayla rolled her eyes back. "So how come?"

Sawyer sighed in frustration. "Your name ain't _annoying_, but I can still call you that, can't I?"

Michayla shrugged. "Think I'd rather you didn't."

"Well, you're annoyin' me." He threw a book at her. "Go away."

Michayla, affronted, left the tent, clutching the book in a dignified way. Looking down, she realized she was clutching a copy of _Watership Down_. "Hey, Sawyer, I already read this book!" she complained.

"I don't care! Now get goin'!" came the reply.

She rolled her eyes huffily and dropped the book in the sand outside his tent and walked on. To her annoyance, she noticed Sawyer leave his tent a few moments later and walk down the beach to the site where Michael and Jin were working on the raft.

Charlie was running down the beach, looking rather panicked. Michayla quickly darted over to him and grabbed his arm. "Whoa, Charlie. Are you okay? What's the matter?"

Charlie glanced around. "I'm looking for Shannon. Have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't, I thinks she's probably somewhere with Sayid - Charlie, what's wrong?" She furrowed her brow in concern.

Charlie looked at her, looking unhappy. "Look," he said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I think you'd better come on back to the caves with me, Michayla. There's - " he shuffled his feet, as if unsure of how to say it. He swallowed. "There's been an accident."

**A/N Dun dun dun....what will Michayla do?! Next chapter, I won't say it'll be done soon, but I WILL say that it will be good. Thanks for reading, I know I probably frustrate everyone with my slow updates. I do apologize for that! And thanks if you've stuck with me this long!**


End file.
